Under the High Peaked Roof
by Piccylo
Summary: PseudoAU. In a small village in Hi no Kuni, three children of the wartorn nation grew up, and they now live in a minka together. Two men and a woman... They're not family, but with how they bicker, they might as well be. :'Kakashi Rin Obito':
1. Wind Chimes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated with Viz, Shonen Jump, or Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is rated "T" for multiple reasons, some being that themes such as mild violence, _suggestive_ sexuality, and gambling will appear, as will cursing and, considering how almost every one of my multi-chapters go, alcohol (its not planned, but I bet it will happen). Ahem, anyway, no suing for you, at least on the party of I for the case of this. Comprende?

Okay, so this is my second Naruto fic, and it will also have Rin as a major role in it. And _here_ is where I curse at the search engine, since Rin and Obito are planned to be equally important, but Kakashi's the main character and I don't want to crimp either of his comrades out of this.  
And you notice in the summary that I've labeled this as "pseudo-AU". Explaining that could spoil things, so you'll just have to guess at the definition yourself.  
So, without further ado, the story…

* * *

He took a quick glance around the doorframe, waited a moment as he determined that no one was present, then pulled himself fully around the frame in a crouch, looking, listening, smelling… 

No, no one was in the room. The whole apartment was empty. The coast was clear.

Still being cautious, the ninja moved slowly and fluidly, keeping his breath even and slow, never letting a muscle lock up or jerk or twitch but simply moving. He didn't have to think about the motion; stealth was his constant, even his habit, since he was just a boy.

The person who lived here was not present. This was ideal for the ninja, whose purpose here was to place sabotage for the resident when he returned. And this sabotage would teach him, oh yes. It would teach him about stealing from _this_ ninja. The audacity! Taking something from him that was so important!

But his plans were distracted when he saw the desk laden with papers. A grin crept across his face. Perhaps it might be more useful to find something he could blackmail with? There had to be some sensitive documents. He moved over, and scanned over the pages. Most of them didn't look like anything special; just standard reports and… ah, wait! What's this? He spotted a thick stack of typed writing that was loose and devoid of official headers.

He allowed himself a small, quiet laugh as he lifted the stack and began thumbing through.

.-.-.-.-.

The trees of the small village in Hi no Kuni swayed contentedly in the breeze, their boughs heavy with fruit, groaning more in elation than complaint from the weight. The late-summer wind went on to rustle the stalks in the rice field, but not before tapping past the wind chimes outside a quaint minka. The minka had patches of new where the inhabitants tried to not make the newness so starkly noticeable… not uncommon, but this house had more patches than the neighbors did, and it was well known why, too. Parts of it were exceptionally clean, while others seemed messily lived in, and a large garden of several kinds of herbs and peculiar flowers surrounding it.

The inhabitants were three people, two men and a woman. Such a set up would normally be considered odd, to say the least, considering that the three weren't related. In any other town, they would've been made the subject of many rumors and more than a little ridicule, but it was well known in this village that the three were childhood friends and no one questioned it. Of them, none of them had families to speak of, and even if they did, were all at the age where living alone would be preferable.

Hatake Kakashi didn't seem to see the balmy, poetic atmosphere that surrounded him at the time, too busy rapped up in his own thoughts as he returned from work. Despite this, he would later remember that very picture of that day quite well.

_Hatake_… his surname just screamed of his family's background as farmers. But they hadn't been farmers for a few generations. His father, Hatake Sakumo, was a businessman… _really_ he was just an accountant, but he had enough of a head on his shoulders to make his own business out of it. In fact, those that saw his work knew him to be practically incomparable. Sakumo taught diligently his skills to his son, who he noticed quite early to be a talent in his own right, if not an outright genius. Sakumo once told his son that he would have become a great ninja if they lived in Konoha.

Not long after, he committed seppuku. Kakashi never really understood his father.

Kakashi was an accountant now, currently working for someone else, but he was young yet, and he had more than a little ambition still left in him. He had every intention of taking his result one step farther than his father did before he died. And even though he was an accountant, the kind of guy that you would expect to be careless with his health (overly skinny, neglect towards his looks including tousled hair and baggy clothes, and an overall lazy attitude), he was actually physically fit and able to win over most of the other men in the village—including the thugs—in a brawl. He kept himself fit physically, and cool mentally, actually in a kind of determination; he wasn't going to die before he was ready to, whether the threat to his life was of the mind, like his insecure and shamed father, or of the body, like the mother he never knew.

But today, his normally careless attitude was marred with angry contemplation, though most people around him wouldn't have realized it outside of his downcast eyes. He kept his face passively in check at all times, always aloof even as he seems careless, but the distracting tension in him would not have gotten past his housemates.

And it didn't. As soon as he entered the minka and set his shoes aside, Rin looked up from the table where she had been crushing dried herbs. "And what are you hiding your face about?" The words might have sounded, under any other tone, accusatory, or at the very least haughty, but the sweet, caring tone that Rin implemented didn't denote anything more than compassion and worry, lightened with a little teasing. This was a phrase that she always asked when he was in a bad mood and trying not to show it, or when he came in later than usual and obviously trying to avoid her and Obito.

"Nothing," Kakashi said immediately, which was always the wrong answer, but at least he gave it consistently.

"Problems at work?"

He sighed, allowing some of his carefully placed face to drop. She got it spot on again. She often got it on the first guess, and though it wasn't uncommon for her to try again, she never had to try more than three times. Then again, there were only three things that ever bothered him: work, Obito, and "old thoughts" (i.e. his family). Feeling Rin's eyes on him, he allowed himself to sit down with her.

She pushed away her mortar and pestle and crossed her hands before her on the table. "What happened?"

"There are rumors that management is going to start cutting corners, that salaries will get slashed and people will get laid off. Some of the other employees are getting restless about it, particularly Hideo-san. He's especially worried, since his family isn't in a good position right now."

Rin nodded. Hideo's wife had died a few years ago, and he was left to take care of the three children, and the eldest was sick. If anything happened to his paycheck, he would be ruined. "So they're trying to get you to keep a lookout for them in the books?"

"Precisely," Kakashi answered, "Never mind that the boss has been giving me more to work out and… damnit all, I'm just getting tired of the whole thing!" He groaned and plopped his head on the table, but he was already feeling better, getting that all off his chest. Rin seemed to pick up on the relief and lightheartedly ruffled his hair as she rose to retrieve some more dried herbs to crush.

More than once Kakashi came in with the feeling that he was at a dead end in his career, no matter how much his logic might work out otherwise. After all, he was in a good position, had a decent income, was in agreeable terms with the higher-ups, and even had a good exit set up if things did go against what he'd planned. Perhaps it was that he was surrounded by people who pretty much were at a dead end in that job, Hideo not being the least of them. And he tried to hide it not completely from pride, but from his own sort of worry; his housemates had their own plethora of problems, and he didn't want to feel like he would burden them with his troubles.

It was usually Rin who got him to spill what he attempts to bottle up, knowing precisely how to make him _want_ to talk and how to give him ample room for his ranting. She was deceptively devious in her ability to handle someone psychologically, a learned trait from being the peacemaker between Kakashi and Obito since they were children.

Kakashi turned his head so that his cheek rested on the table surface, and he looked towards the front door. He remembered that Rin told the two men to come back home by five-o'-clock for dinner, since she had a surprise for them.

Punctuality was no problem for Kakashi; he always came straight home after work anyway. But Obito just didn't seem to understand the concept of time sometimes. Well, that's not fair, since he always came out of breath when he was late, even if he was _significantly_ late, and he always had a good excuse to back him up.

Kakashi stared at the door. It was only four twenty, but Obito had quickly announced last night that he would come home an hour early just to help Rin prepare. Rin really wasn't bothered, and she seemed like she was already finished, but Kakashi wasn't about to miss a chance in ribbing Obito for making himself into a liar. It seemed like a good way to raise his own spirits.

The heavy steps of a young man in a hurry up wooden steps approached the door, just as Kakashi expected. Obito burst into the house, hurriedly kicked off his shoes (nearly tripping himself in the process). "Rin? I'm sorry! Masa-san had kept me a little late to help them move the boilers, and—"

"Save your breath, Obito." Kakashi raised his head up from the table. "She's getting herbs to crush."

Obito frowned and flashed his eyes over to the other male, and he ran a hand through his black hair. He knew that a reprimand was just a few seconds away, and he tightened his lips and prepared to build up a counter to the assault.

"What is with you, anyway? Running in here, nearly getting your shoes on the mats, almost certainly nicking the wood floor outside by your stomping around. You're twenty minutes late, so why do you put up the illusion of rushing? And you're already pushing out an excuse for being late? You hardly came in!" Kakashi leaned back in the chair. "Maybe you shouldn't make promises if you can't keep them."

"Can it, Kakashi! Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean that you can take it out on me."

Kakashi winced. He _hated_ when his annoyance was obvious to Obito, and that just made him _more_ annoyed. He stood up. "Whether or not I'm in a bad mood doesn't mean that I'm not telling the truth. Stop acting like a little kid, already!"

"Fine! I act like a kid! But at least I'm not some self-centered jerk who picks on the first person he sees just because he feels bored at work again."

"Obito, you—ow!" He put his hand protectively at the spot on his head that was just hit, and he turned around to see a scowling Rin.

"Not five minutes and you guys are already at each other's throats. I swear, I've seen sibling rivalries with less spit in them." She sighed. "I don't mind Obito being late, Kakashi; I really only wanted to make sure you were both here by five anyway, so as far as I'm concerned, he's early. There's no reason for you to snap at him like that."

Obito gave a wide, self-righteous grin at Kakashi, glad that Rin was on his side.

"And Obito, Kakashi is _not_ being selfish. His trouble at work comes from rumors that some of his co-workers might get laid off or salary decreases, including Hideo-san, and he's _worried_ about them. Be a little more curteous."

"Erm…" That grin had fled in an instant. "Oh… sorry… I, uh, didn't know…" He fidgeted a bit, like he always did when Rin reprimanded him.

She gave another sigh, which was an instant trigger that made both young men feel guilty for disappointing their friend, and both found themselves looking at the floor. But Rin didn't linger on it, and went back into the kitchen, saying dinner will still be a while.

Obito decided to go for the bath before Kakashi would get a chance to say anything, wanting to get rid of the smell of spices, broth, and sweat from carrying full pots and grosses of ingredients the whole day off of him. He worked in a mom-and-pop restaurant more in town, and was the strapping, young man who did all the grunt work and much of everything else for the old couple who owned it. On his first day, he'd burned his right hand in three places with oil, then burned his left on the fire while catching the pan so that it wouldn't burn the rest of his arm. Rin had to clean and wrap up the burns when he got home, and he had to wear gloves for a whole week.

He, like Kakashi, was in good physical condition, partially because Kakashi would resort to fist fights about once a week, and this pastime evolved into the two sparring for fun every other day. When it was discovered that Rin was actually pretty good at hand-to-hand combat (from the day she beat up the both of them before they could do the same to each other), they allowed her to join them. But despite his working out, he was still a little clumsy, and Kakashi would always make Obito trip himself up during a fight at least once, which meant that Obito was just going to have to hit Kakashi that much harder after he got up.

He realized that he was just getting himself angry by thinking of Kakashi again, and he forced it out of his mind. The point of a bath before dinner was to relax, after all, and all he was doing with that was working himself up with that line of thought.

_But thinking about Rin is fair game,_ he mused with a smile. _Wonder what the surprise she has for us is…_ It wasn't something special she was cooking. Even though Rin wasn't a bad cook, she was actually the least talented between the three at it. She knew how to use spices well, given that she knew spices and herbs well anyway, but that was almost the extent of her skill.

.-.-.-.-.

"I'm going to start working at the clinic tomorrow."

The two men looked up from their curry, wide-eyed. Obito nearly dropped his chopsticks. Kakashi just looked frozen. Both had become eerily silent.

Rin bit her lip and frowned. "I thought the news would excite you guys."

Kakashi frowned and tried to think of a way to explain it. "It's not that we aren't happy for—"

"The clinic is full of shinobi, Rin!" Obito blurted. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and glared at him for his lack of subtlety.

"You mean they weren't wearing hitai-ate for looks?" she replied with light sarcasm, her gained reaction to when people would treat her like a child. It, of course, made Obito wince and shut him up fast, allowing her to continue. "They're Konoha medic-nin, and they_need_ nurses. They had hardly recovered at all from the war when the Kyuubi hit their village, so they've just recently been able to re-staff the clinics and hospitals in the towns and cities around the country." A slightly sad look came to her face. "I thought you two would be happy to hear the news. I mean, if nothing else, it means more money coming into the house."

Obito lowered his head guiltily, but Kakashi frowned at Rin. She had to have known how they would react (she always knew), and he wasn't fooled. So he decided to press on, "The point is, Rin, that you're not a ninja. But you'll be among ninja, and how will they treat you? Will they treat you as one of their own? Will they look down on you because you're a citizen, or take advantage of you?" His eyes were hard on her, making her uncomfortable enough to put down her chopsticks and stop eating. "And even if _they_ do accept you, what of foreign ninja? Worse, what if there's another war, or a ninja team that remembers the war decides to start up trouble? Maybe they'll think that you're from Konohagakure, or a medic-nin yourself. They might _torture_ or _kill_ you… or at least take you away because they'd think you'd be _useful_."

The black-haired boy beside him lowered his brow, not wanting to think such things happening to Rin, and certainly not liking how Kakashi was upsetting her, but nonetheless being on _his_ side; he was just as much against this.

Rin stayed silent for a moment. Kakashi guessed that she was weighing out a good response rather than weighing out his points on the matter. He was right. "The other countries wouldn't want war anymore than Konoha did, and are probably still rebuilding themselves. And why should I be afraid of foreign ninja? This village is no use to them unless there _is_ a war." She wove her fingers together in front of her, staring down as she spoke softly, smoothly. "And I don't care if the ninja in the clinic look down on me. I don't care about what people say about me." She smiled up at them unexpectedly. "If I did, would I be living alone with two men I'm not related to?"

_Damnit._ Kakashi looked away. This is why he hated trying to fight with Rin; he was never able to figure out what she was going to say beforehand until it was too late, so he'd always lose. Getting reason into her head was complex. Fighting Obito was a lot simpler, and he wished that he were arguing with him instead. At least with Obito, even if Obito were too thickheaded to get Kakashi's point, Kakashi would still come out on top.

Thinking of Obito, he glanced over at the black-haired young man, trying to prompt him to come in with an argument until Kakashi could regroup his thoughts and try again. Obito noticed the signal, and he looked like he was about to falter.

But right when Kakashi was about to try to improvise something, Obito spoke up, "You know, we don't care about the money."

Kakashi nearly spouted out to the contrary before he stopped himself.

"I mean, money helps, and I wont deny that, you know?" He poked a piece of beef until it fell over into the rice, sort of afraid to look up at her. "But Kakashi and I… we barely do anything for the house compared to you." Kakashi had to hold his tongue on that one, too; _he_ brought in the most money, and Obito did most of the cooking. "And we are concerned, you know? I mean, we're perfectly fine with you just working with plants and herbs from here. You don't need to put yourself in a position that you would get teased or even get in danger. We'd rather you work from home if it's more comfortable to you."

That one seemed to surprise Rin a bit, and she smiled at Obito in response, prompting a blush to appear on his cheeks. But then she said, "Obito, you're very sweet… but, you're talking as if I was either _pregnant_ or _old_."

Obito was the sort who could be elated one second and defeated the next, and here was an example of how he did so. Kakashi nearly put his forehead in his hand for Obito's letting the comment get to him.

Kakashi tried to regain some footing, but he found himself getting more and more swayed towards Rin's argument. _Damn her! That's another reason why I hate arguing with her!_ He found himself forcefully dropping the subject just so he could at least pretend he had a mind of his own and wasn't nearly as brainwashed as Obito. At some point he vocalized this, prompting a fight between the two men. Rin didn't interfere with this one; she decided to prepare some things for her first day at work tomorrow and this fight didn't seem worth interfering with.

Somewhere in all this, a paper lamp caught on fire (for which a debate about how this happened raged for weeks among the three). Rin did finally see a point in interfering with the fight when she smelled smoke. With cries of "What are you doing!" and "Shut up, Kakashi!" and "You want the whole neighborhood to come in here!" and "It wasn't me!" and "You nearly destroyed the house, _again_!" the rest of the night wasn't exactly peaceful. But Kakashi did manage to almost forget all of his problems with the other two members of his dysfunctional "family".

And when he came to work the next day, he'd found he'd rather be back at home, arguing about paper lamps.

* * *

Hi no Kuni – The Land of Fire / Fire Country.  
Minka – Old-style Japanese house, usually a farmhouse nowadays (city folk find them impractical). Lit. "people's house".  
Hatake – Written in Kanji can mean "field" or "farmland". 


	2. Seasons Change

Disclaimer: Chapter 1. I did mention cursing, right?

I hates you, search thingy. I hates you so. I'll probably rant at you (and annoy my readers) for some time.

* * *

It wasn't often that Obito would get the rest of the day off from the restaurant—and _not_ be exhausted, at least. But he couldn't help a burned out oven any more than a mayfly could help the oncoming winter. Masa and his wife were forced to close the restaurant for the day while repairs were done, and Obito wouldn't have been much use to a restaurant that can't serve customers. 

He felt a little disappointed, however, when he came home to an empty minka, and had to remind himself that Rin was at work with her new job at the clinic. But what really disappointed him was that he realized that he might not get those few hours of Rin to himself whenever he chanced to come home early anymore. He did still really like Rin… maybe even more now than when he was a brash early-teen with a crush.

Once, years ago, Obito had mustered up the courage to ask her out, and they were together for a while. It was a time that he would remember with a smile, because even though it wasn't the perfect series of dates—she seemed distracted and still on the other side of the "just friends" fence—it was still a time where he could be with her, and _only_ her, and she was only with him. It didn't last, but not because of personal conflicts with each other, but because of the world that seemed to have been tearing apart around them. They had less and less time and energy to spare on a still-developing relationship, and they had to sacrifice it to hold themselves together as individuals.

It was beyond the point of reconnection by the time things had settled down, or, more accurately, the situation had changed to make a second try for Obito awkward. The war had crushed much of the economy of the country, and nearly devastated their town (which was on a supply and troop route, to make things worse). He, Rin, and Kakashi had all felt the thrust, and had each fallen to a point in their lives that it was impossible to work and live alone, that they needed support, and none of them had anyone to turn to but each other, the old neighborhood friends.

When Obito found himself in stability again, he found himself living with Rin in a minka, but also living with Kakashi. He and Kakashi argued frequently, but they were still good friends when it came down to it. What would it do to Kakashi if Obito approached Rin, and she reciprocated? If Rin and Obito became a pair, would Kakashi be affected, or would he feel like a third wheel? Would it make things more awkward than they need to be?

And Obito wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad sign, but as his adoration for Rin as a _woman_ grew, so did his adoration for Rin as a _friend_ and sort of adopted _family_ _member_. This could smooth things out, it could complicate things more; it could help or hurt them all in the long run.

_If nothing else,_ Obito realized, _I am still fixated on her. Even though she isn't here, all I can think about is her!_

Instead of pondering further, he took it on himself to take a look at the kitchen. Rin had cleaned it up after she used it, as always, and she organized everything with every utensil, spice, and pot in its place. Her work in the medical field gave her this mindset of organization and cleanliness, an odd following because she didn't have the sort of personality you'd call meticulous. Perhaps it was a family trait; Obito recalled how she grieved when her father died, doing little more than staring in the distance and going through old things for a few days, and afterwards, she hardly seemed like a daughter who just lost her dad. He thought it was odd, and asked her if she was okay, but she said her family "sorted things out" when loved ones died, so that they "understand the progression from death", or something like that.

"I'm thinking about her again," he growled under his breath, annoyed at himself. "I bet Kakashi would laugh his ass off right now if he saw that I can't even see what's left in the pantry without _obsessing_ over Rin."

And what was left in the pantry, anyway? He looked inside. Ah, not much. Not that it didn't figure. Refrigerator? Cold _and_ barren. Okay, that's a little annoying. Rin must have used the last of the rice and beef for the curry last night. Unless he could figure out a meal out of leeks, cheese, katsuobushi, and two slices of bread (both heels), he was going to have to shop today. He nearly did convince himself to make weird soup out of it, but he knew better than to try; both of his housemates were still in a bad mood from last night when they left this morning (and he sure as hell didn't want to make it worse!).

So, he had to take some money out of the box where they kept the food budget. Erg, one glance could tell you that it was hideously low. Maybe it really was a good thing that Rin was going to be bringing in extra money now. He pulled out the bills and coins and counted.

And he counted again.

The third time, he sighed, seeing that he just had to accept that there wasn't enough money, unless he wanted to make one onigiri for each of them. Oh yeah, that'd go over _really well_.

He lowered his head and hit his forehead on the table, growling and muttering at the luck. He considered pulling money from other funds, but it was that behavior that probably got the food budget so low in the first place. Besides, it's not like he can pull it from the_house_ budget when they were already going to have to fix things from the fire. And the box they had for luxury money was almost always empty this time of year.

Too bad he didn't know this beforehand… he might've taken some food from work again. Except, yeah, there wouldn't be food there because they couldn't prepare any.

But he blinked and raised his head. "Oh yeah! They're closed today, but they still had the food out before the oven burned out!" This meant that they _had_ food, but because the restaurant was closed, some of it would go bad and they might have to throw it away anyway. They surely wouldn't mind giving him some of it!

Obito ran out the door.

.-.-.-.-.

The whole house was filled with the sound of a knife hitting a cutting board as Obito hummed a tune, feeling rather proud of himself. Hah, he really saved the day tonight with the food. There would be plenty to eat for the three of them tonight, and he picked out some things that he can wrap up to keep longer as well (he couldn't manage to get rice from his employers, though; it's not like rice _spoils_ quickly, after all).

Well, he was, all in all, in a good mood, and his housemates were sure to be in a good mood when they get to eat, he was sure. Obito was the best cook of the three (he used to be the _worst_, when they first started living together, but working everyday at a restaurant changed that pretty quickly).

He wondered if Rin would praise him, and if he'd manage to get that bastard Kakashi to knock off his tunnel vision on work for a second. Might knock him off his high horse, too, if he tells them about how he got the food. He grinned, wondering if it'd be too cocky of him to tell them or if it was fair game.

_Bang __bang__ BANG __**BANG! **__**WHAM!**_ Obito heard someone stomping up the steps and slamming the door into the inner wall. He knew who it was immediately. "Hey, Kakashi!"

"GRAH!" Kakashi growled, and Obito heard him throwing his shoes into the floor like he was trying to break something. "I'm not in the mood Obito!"

"Oi, oi, oi!" Obito yelled back, a little peeved at Kakashi's entrance. "I wasn't trying to pick a fight with you, you conceited prick. What the hell is with you?"

"_What the hell ELSE could it be!_" he shouted, then slammed a fist into the wall. "_FUCK! STUPID MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLES! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEM!_" He took his aggression out on a nearby ceremonial sword sheath on a table, flinging it on the ground with its stand and anything on the table with it. "Damnit! Why the fuck do they put all this shit on me!" He paused for a second. "Where the fuck is Rin?!"

"Rin is at _work_! Did you forget that she starts working at the clinic today?" He sneered. "You'd better not be thinking about taking this out on her."

"_No, I'm--!_" Kakashi stopped a moment, and he took a breath before speaking again, "I just want to talk to her. I'm just really frustrated right now and… I just want to _talk_ to her. That's all. Did she tell you when she's coming back?"

"She didn't tell me her hours, either. Damn, this must be serious. You usually don't let anything get to you like this, Kakashi." Sure, Kakashi and Obito got into fights that escalated down into fistfights quite often, but Obito was usually the one who raised his voice and threw a punch first. Kakashi rarely yelled if someone wasn't already yelling at him.

He looked to the floor and shook his head, as if trying to shake the whole thing off. "Hideo-san is marked for getting laid off, along with a bunch of other people. But the best part is, they're repositioning _me_ into workforce management… so, next workday, it'll be _my_ job to tell everyone that they're canned, including Hideo-san and the previous workforce management. And if I don't,_ I'm_ canned." He wiped his forehead. "…When's Rin coming in?"

"I just told you that I didn't know! Geez, does all the blood rushing to your head make you deaf or something?"

Kakashi didn't seem to notice the comment. Instead he walked off, mumbling something about taking a bath. Obito seethed there for a minute, contemplating whether he should pick up what Kakashi had thrown about or just let the royal bastard do it himself. The conclusion was quick and obvious, stalking back to the kitchen and wondering himself when Rin would be back.

He almost lost track of time, between preparing food and growling about Kakashi being Kakashi, and wasn't roused out of his scowl until he heard another person at the door, and the mood changed completely. When Rin came home, the smell of good food and a smiling Obito greeted her. She smiled back warmly.

"Hi, Rin," he said, almost a little bashful as he did. Even though they had dated before, and had lived together for so long, he would revert back to that old habit of being shy around her from time to time. It's something that he never really expected to grow out of, so he didn't. "How…uh, was your first day at the clinic?"

"Pretty good, actually. They're really just glad for the help, over anything. And the… the ninja all seem to respect me for what I _do_ know." She pressed her lips tentatively and changed the subject. "What's for dinner? It smells delicious."

The two prattled on for a bit, and Obito was about to excuse himself back to the food when Rin saw the bare table.

"…Why is my sword sheath thrown on the floor?"

"Oh, Kakashi came in upset and knocked stuff around. I don't think he was really looking at what he was—_wait_. That sheath is _yours_?" He had always thought it was Kakashi's; it was Kakashi that brought it in and put it up when they moved in, after all.

She nodded. "It's a family heirloom, I guess you could say. Why was he upset? What happened?"

"Something happened at work. He said that he wanted to talk to you." Obito frowned. He started to piece together that something was very _odd_ here. "In fact, he kept asking when you'd be back."

"Oh," she blushed, a little ashamed, "I never told you guys what my hours were, did I? And I had to leave so quickly this morning that I didn't get to tell you when I'd be back. I actually came home a little early today; usually, my shift will end at five thirty."

"Five thirty?" The frown deepened. He didn't like the prospect of being alone in the house with only Kakashi to talk to until then.

She nodded. "Sometimes I might be out later or earlier… it really depends on what kind of day we have at the clinic, if they need to keep me late or not. From when I left this morning, to then, six times a week."

"Isn't that too long for a shift, though?" another voice grunted in. Kakashi had finally emerged from bathing/sulking, and had changed into the baggy clothes that he normally wore outside of work. He stared at the two with his normal, lazy eyes, but the slight frown made him look more tired than laid back.

"Seven thirty to five thirty… six days a week… that's a sixty-hour work schedule," Kakashi continued. "Forty per week, eight per day is the maximum for fulltime, and most places don't offer overtime when the employee has just started working there."

In response, Rin only laughed and smiled. "I get _two_ hour-long breaks, Kakashi, and the sixth day is only scheduled; I've been made to understand that I might not be coming in for the sixth day half of the time. And, yes, I _am_ being paid for overtime. They have to allow it in this case, since they're shorthanded."

Kakashi frowned, a clear indication that he wasn't entirely convinced.

Obito fidgeted, thinking that it seemed a little too much like the conversation from last night. "You guys, are you just going to sit here while good food gets cold? Huh? I went through a lot to get the food, don't you know." He started walking towards the table, and the other two (thankfully) followed. The raven-haired boy served up the food while jabbering on about his day, about how it was his brilliance that they could eat today since the food budget was low again. The mention of the low budget made Kakashi's face turn dark for a minute, but Rin quickly jumped in with her salary and a promise that she'll take the boys out to eat when she got her first paycheck.

It really was a good dinner, but there was something gnawing at all three of them during it. Despite Rin's smile and assurances, and Obito's brash yelling and recollection across the table, and Kakashi's cool laziness letting him relax again, the picture was different than the everyday picture they had. If the scene had been drawn in graphite, there would be a new smudge separating the three… not too dark, almost incorporeal, but still _there_.

Kakashi was a fast eater, so he was usually the first to finish eating, and tonight was no different. When he put down his chopsticks, it was almost a signal for a fight to start, and he set it off with, "A good meal… almost makes up for the fire you caused last night."

Obito's brows furrowed. "You bastard! I told you a thousand times last night that it wasn't my fault that the paper lamp caught on fire!"

"Are you blaming me again? Since when would I do something so stupid?"

"As if you hadn't caused half of the holes that we keep having to fix up! It's just as much your fault that we're low on money!"

"I'm not the one who sneaks money out of the utilities to see a movie."

"I did that _once_!"

"It was still enough for us to not have water in the house for a week."

"And you honestly are going to say that you never rigged the house budget to your favor. Like, say, when we had nearly frozen ourselves one winter to keep the heating bill down, but you were able to afford all those books?"

"…Keep my books out of this!"

Rin sighed and leaned on an arm she propped up on the table, looking much like an adult that had to deal with two schoolboys daily. "You guys…" She watched as the argument between the two escalated, waiting incase she needed to interfere and keep something else from catching on fire. But she didn't bother stopping them, because the distance in the argument was obvious. Neither of them were really taking it personally, or even trying to agitate each other as much. They were mostly just making noise.

When the argument calmed down, they started putting away their dishes. Rin didn't mention more about her job that night, not even going into the people that she worked with or her duties. Kakashi hadn't talked about his problems at work at the table, but Obito had a feeling that Kakashi pulled Rin aside and talked about it afterwards. Unbidden, Obito himself began to wonder what he was going to do after he worked at the restaurant, since it suddenly seemed like he wasn't going to be there forever. There was nothing outwardly different, but everything felt suddenly temporary.

Something was about to change. Things were about to get complicated. Fall was quickly approaching, and winter would follow soon after. The seasons have to cycle, and they could only put faith in the high-peaked roof to force the rain and snowfall to fall away and not erode the thatching of their shelter.

* * *

Katsuobushi – Pieces of dried, fermented, and smoked tuna.  
Onigiri – Rice balls (I don't know why we call them "balls" in English; they look more like roundish triangles to me).  
Okay, I've got a seriously weird announcement/request to make. If any of you are fans of my first Naruto fic "Discolored Hands", I want your input (you can just e-mail me or message me [PM, IM, whatever instead of reviewing if you want). I'm considering, since it's fairly popular, making a sequel. In fact, I've got about a page of the first chapter written out, and it looks nice. The thing is, I'm not seeing myself doing anything with this. So, if anyone wants to try his or her hand at it, or collaborate on the fic together with me, or if you have another option for me, give me a shout. 


	3. Egaosenryou

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I left it over in chapter one.

Man, people don't seem to like this fic so much. There are hardly any views to the second chapter! And not one review? Geez.

* * *

Rin was careful to smile the entire weekend. 

She smiled when she started making breakfast before going to her second day of work. It was Saturday, and the whole house would usually be asleep at this hour, but familiar steps came down the stairs shortly after Rin started brewing her coffee. Kakashi had come down to join her, and he greeted her as he pulled out some dishes and a mug, eying the pot, and preoccupied himself with fixing his own breakfast while the coffee pot gurgled.

He didn't work on Saturdays, so she asked him why he was up so early.

"I always wake up early. Force of habit."

Her smile remained, not faltering with even a twitch. "You might as well tell me a kappa burst through the roof into your bedroom and his water bowl sloshed over into your futon to wake you up." Kakashi might wake up early for work, but he slept in far later than Obito or her in the weekends. Besides, she knew full well that he had been up all night, worrying about what had happened at his job the night before.

The smile did waver a moment as she remembered what he told her the night before, concern for Hideo-san and the other employees at Kakashi's workplace. But she didn't allow the dark thought to stay, and her smile quickly solidified again.

Kakashi caught how her smile didn't change as she spoke, she knew, and he caught how it wavered a second later. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Rin giggled and they continued to eat breakfast. She was thankful that she had someone to talk to before she went to work today. It made her feel like things weren't going to change so badly.

She cleaned her dishes and put them away, and she picked up her things with a valediction as she went for the door. But she stopped in her tracks almost right at the door, and her eyes froze on the ceremonial sheath that was still on the floor.

Kakashi noticed this as well, and he followed to see what was wrong. He looked at the bare table and the thrown objects in confusion a moment, and then suddenly remembered how they got there. "I'm sorry! I was out of my mind yesterday and—"

"Don't be," she said again, and though she grinned as she said it, her expression changed when she looked back down at the sheath. "But, if you could put it back up for me…"

"Of course!" he exclaimed, ashamed, and was already kneeling down to pick it up. He knew she wasn't supposed to touch it. There was a family legend concerning it, where she wouldn't be allowed to touch it after she came of age. The legend was a little morbid, and it happened long before Konohagakure had even been founded yet so it's hard to tell if it was true. And the whole family, Rin included, was secretive about it. Rin's father had the sheath hidden away in an unused room. His mother before him, apparently, had displayed it proudly in the front room when she was alive, but she still told the story associated with it only to family members.

The only reason Kakashi knew about the legend in the first place was because he had knocked it down before, back when she still lived in her late father's house, and she had to ask him to pick it up.

She smiled at him when he looked back at her, but she knew her smile was a little sad by how his brows arched up in concern. She laughed and said, "Don't be," as he opened his mouth to apologize again. She repeated her goodbye, and left, still smiling.

Rin didn't have to smile when she came back that evening, because she walked right into a fistfight that she had to break up, and promptly scolded both of them afterwards. But she was pleasant the rest of the night, even though she took care to not mention work.

Sunday, she didn't have work, so she slept in. She did wake up from time to time, though, hearing Kakashi doing something in his room. He wasn't particularly loud, but he was rustling about, going through things, and the chair that was in front of his desk where he did paperwork squeaked periodically. No, he wasn't being loud, but it's still so unusual for him to be awake this early on a weekend. She began to wonder if he had slept at all the past couple of days. But even though she worried, she wasn't going to let her worry show.

When she did finally trudge herself out of bed, she bumped into Obito. The sun was shining through the window in the hall on them, and he grinned at her with a, "Good morning, Rin. You look nice today."

She allowed herself to blush. It had been a while since Obito had said that last to her. When was it? Were they still dating then? "Thanks, Obito. I don't really feel it, but I appreciate the compliment."

He grinned wider. "Its true," he said, and he moved past her. She giggled quietly, and it wasn't very hard to smile the rest of the day.

It was night by the time she did see Kakashi outside of his room. He looked ragged and tired, but he still nonchalantly went into the kitchen and made himself some dinner and a pot of coffee. Rin was studying a medical book when he came into the main room.

"Rin, can I talk to you about something?"

She looked up from the book, feeling a little confused. Kakashi had been acting so strange lately. He rarely asked that question; she usually had to prod him into talking instead. But she didn't let the confusion spoil her countenance. "Of course."

Despite permission being given to him, he went quiet for a long moment.

--And he cleared his throat suddenly in the silence, jarring her a bit. "I've been saving up money, you know. And I've been looking at some things… through some of the plans and papers I have. Money's tight at the moment, but if Obito's still working and you're bringing in more money, then maybe I could…" He trailed off.

"You could what?"

"It'll only be difficult for a little while," he continued as if she already understood, and maybe she did. "We might have to tighten our belts for a bit, but I'm sure I can get it off the ground, and afterwards we wouldn't have to worry about things like money and I wouldn't be coming in complaining about stupid bosses and destroying things just because you're not here to talk to."

Rin had the feeling that he might have been talking more to himself than to her, and the look on his face seemed to say that he just realized that. He let out a frustrated exhale for letting his tongue go faster than his brain and ran a hand through his white hair.

"You're going to start up that business." She stated it as a fact, not a question.

"Yes. Yes that's what I'm thinking about. It's getting too difficult, working for someone else, I mean."

"Being your own boss doesn't mean it will get any less difficult."

"I know that, but it seems that it should be. It seems that if I don't have stupid orders from higher up upsetting everything around me and frequently forcing me into a position where I have to compensate for the pompous nescience of an 'executive decision', everything would be far… _simpler_." He chewed a little bit into his inner lip, a small habit that few would notice even if they knew him well, and he stared off into the distance. "But starting will be hard."

"I'm sure you could do it." When she said this, he looked at her again, and he saw that she was smiling at him. "I _know_ you can do it."

He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment, then suddenly seemed flustered and excused himself. "I need to do some more thinking."

.-.-.-.

Monday morning, Rin didn't see Kakashi at breakfast, but she ended up running out after sharing a quick meal with Obito, anyway, so she figured that she'd merely missed him. She spared no more thoughts to it until she came home that evening and saw Kakashi's boss, banging on their door hard enough for the planks to quiver violently. Before she could greet him and ask him what was bothering him, he whirled around and glared at her with some of the most piercing eyes she could ever imagine on a large, middle-aged man.

"Where is Hatake?!" he spat.

Rin stopped and her eyes flew wide, as if a two-by-four had appeared out nowhere and whapped her in the chest. She really didn't like the look in his eyes, bulging and red like they were about to burst. "Umm… excuse me, sir? What do you want with Kakashi?"

"To begin with, he hasn't come in to work today at all, and it's his first day after his promotion." The anger in the man's voice threatened to swallow his words, making him almost unintelligible. "And the entire office seems to know that he wasn't going in today, and maybe even why, but they won't tell me anything! In fact, a few of them turned in their two-weeks notice today, and I'm betting that Hatake has something to do with _that_, as well."

Rin squelched the desire to sneer back at him for his tone. This was probably the man that had set off Kakashi on Friday and made him act so strange the entire weekend with his new "reforms" in the office, and he probably deserved a tongue-lashing thrown right back at him, but she wasn't about to do that in public. Let the man destroy his own honor in the street. She decided to make past him and tried to cue him to step aside as she pulled out her house key. "If you'll excuse me…"

Instead of doing the polite thing by getting out of her way while she entered her house, he grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him as he glared at her. "You live with Hatake? Are you his wife or something?"

"No, we're just housemates. I live with Kakashi and one other man." When his brows rose in surprise as if he'd just heard a terrible scandal, she added, "Most people on this side of town know about our situation, sir. None of us had been able to afford to live independently a few years ago and we had to get this minka together. So, if you don't mind…" She moved her arm to wrench it out of his grip.

In response, however, he just held her arm all that much more strongly. He came for answers, and he seemed intent on getting them, one way or another. "What is Hatake plotting? He must have told _you_, right? Tell me _right now_!"

Rin's brows furrowed. She wasn't about to take this, damnit. Her father raised her to be nice and courteous to others, but she was also supposed to take care of herself, to not let herself get pushed around. It was hard to personally affront _Rin_, but she didn't let people treat her like this; as she was taught, to be treated so disrespectfully was not only an insult to her, but to her line. Her free hand reached back, her fingers ready to pull out anything she might need from her pockets as if they were spring loaded. There was a heavy silence for a few seconds.

There was a click and a creek that interrupted it, and the two looked to find Kakashi now standing in the doorway, leaning lazily against the frame and squinting at the two as if he'd just woken up. He ran a hand through his hair. "I can try to sleep through some blowhard trying to tear down my front door, but what's with you trying to assault my friend?"

The middle-aged man released Rin's arm with a grunt and moved so close that his face was not far away from Kakashi's. "What are you trying to pull, Hatake? Are you _trying_ to destroy the company?"

Kakashi sighed as if he was explaining it to a child. "No, I believe you were doing enough damage to this branch to do that yourself, with the 'reforms' that you were pushing to be implemented in the workforces."

"What are you implying?"

He slowly described exactly what he was implying, which was that the company might gain some money from all the lay-offs, budget cuts, and repositioning within the branch, but the various forms of "sloppy cauterization", as he put it, would put that branch in the red by the end of the fiscal year, and the main headquarters would be forced to sever it from the main trunk unless drastic actions were taken—which would cost more money in the long run, Kakashi added—to keep it above water.

"I simply figured that it would be more economically responsible for me to go ahead and quit now and pursue my own endeavors, since there's no way I can have any sort of financial security when my superiors are already so near-sighted and cut-loose about their decisions," he added with an exhale. "And since I didn't give you two weeks notice, I figured that I might as well stay in bed. I didn't get much sleep over the weekend, you know."

The man pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his brow, still looking irate but the expression tainted by some fear. "What is this about, Hatake? Does this have anything to do with the upset you caused during the meeting on Friday? Are you trying to lash out just because you were put down in front of the board?"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed dangerously. He told Rin about the board meeting that Friday evening, and he almost got himself screaming again while remembering how it went. Rin clenched her hands, hoping that his temper wouldn't uncharacteristically rise again. She didn't want to have to force apart this fight if it managed to resort to fists.

"I _tried_ to explain to you _idiots_ that your plans weren't going to work at the meeting," Kakashi hissed. "I tried to tell you how it'd hit you in the books, I tried to tell you how it'd harm your image in the workforce among the employees. I even tried to explain how badly it was going to hit the employees that you were laying off without a thought. But you fools are as _heartless_ as you are _brainless_, and you could only tell me that I was in no position to make criticisms. After all, I was getting a _promotion_ out of this! I was getting a _raise_!" He made one strong step forward. "I should just shut my mouth and comply as long as I was getting paid. Well, bring _this_ message to the board. You can all go to _hell_!"

The man backed off, sputtering with his eyes wide with anger and shock, frustrated as he attempted to find words to retort with. His face was no longer just red, but purple, and he shook furiously as spit flecked out of his mouth with his tries. He couldn't find any sort of counter until Rin moved to get past him and into the house.

"Are you going to have your little _whore_ pay your bills now, Hatake? Are you going to have her turn tricks now that you'll never work in this town again?"

Rin whirled around, and Kakashi stepped forward again with a fist up. But the first hit was from behind, when a punch connected to the man's almost purple temple.

"Bastard! How_ dare_ you speak that way about Rin?!" Obito nearly shrieked. "I come home from a long day of carrying heavy loads and pots of boiling liquids, especially long since they had me stay longer, to see some disrespectful asshole in front of my house talking about one of the sweetest girls in the world like that?" He picked the man up by his collar and swatted him down again.

The black-haired young man continued to pommel him as Rin and Kakashi looked on, trying not to let their smirks be too noticeable and especially not wanting to interrupt. Obito wore himself out before long (he must have been pretty tired from work; he normally would've been able to wail on him for at least an hour or two). The man was even able to stand on his own power afterwards and hurl threats of lawsuits as he limped off.

Rin looked over to Kakashi as Obito hurled insults after the man. "You didn't tell me that you were up for a promotion. In fact, the way you worded it, I was under the impression that you were losing money."

"Erm… well, in a way I would, since it wouldn't be too long before my pay would be cut or I'd have to find a new job anyway, with what they were doing."

"Really," Rin smirked at him and his glib rationalization before she went to Obito and pulled up his hands to inspect his knuckles. "You really did a number on him, Obito. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. But that prick won't be. How about you, Rin?"

"Hmm? Oh, he didn't even touch me."

"I mean, what he said…"

She looked up at him, seeing that he was genuinely worried about it, and shrugged, smiling at him. "Oh, it means nothing to me, Obito. He was just blasting hot air with that comment, along with the threats at a lawsuit. Besides, you and Kakashi know that it isn't true, and that's all that matters to me."

"He seemed pretty serious about suing to me," Kakashi added.

Rin looked back at him. "Even if he is, he needs the medical records and cooperation with medical staff from the clinic about his wounds, right? I'm sure they're going to be _really_ friendly when they find out what he called one of their only nurses." She laughed. "Besides, they're ninja. They are the kind of people that understand that some guys just need a good smack against the head every once in a while."

Kakashi stared at her incredulously for a moment, and then began to laugh. "I don't understand how you can manage to smile like that, Rin."

Rin laughed again and ignored the comment. "Come on, Obito. You split and bruised a couple knuckles, and it'd be easier to treat them inside."

* * *

The proposition for writer/co-writer/whatever on a possible sequel to "Discolored Hands" is still up, assuming anyone still cares about that. 


	4. Ninja and People

Disclaimer: Chapter one. It is there, I promise.

I've been busy oh so busy so busy I don't even have time to use periods until the end of this ramble-on thought.

* * *

Another look through the books while Kakashi flipped through and started setting up his system told Kakashi that he wouldn't be able to employ anyone in his own business for a month at the least, so Hideo-san was going to have to find work elsewhere for now. A pity, because someone of Hideo-san's experience would be useful, especially starting out, but he simply wouldn't be able to afford him.

But there was still a good chance that things would start out very well for the business; dealers that he came to know while working with his previous boss were already his contacts, and he could already make a fine deal for goods for them without having to worry about idiotic policies screwing up the numbers. And, though he'd hate to admit it, the shinobi coming through to man the local clinic has helped move the money around in the town's economy, keeping it from stagnating as small towns often do.

He'd never admit that the shinobi would be helping, though, especially if Rin was present. He was still quite wary of the idea of her new job as a nurse at the clinic, even if he can't say anything against it due his recent loss of his job. He simply reminded himself that Rin's salary was significant enough that it made up for the loss and then some (although, come to think of it, it seemed a little _high_ for a clinic nurse, but he didn't question it since she was scheduled for overtime).

Kakashi had been working so adamantly on the schedules and plans that he hadn't realized Obito had come home until he smelled something delicious waft into his room. He decided to stand up, and found that his muscles ached and his neck was stiff. How long had he been sitting there, anyway? At this rate, he was going to get out of shape and have failing health before his business even started.

He half-stumbled down into the eating area, finding that Obito still had some things to attend to in the kitchen and had not quite yet brought out the food. He looked at a clock; it would still be a while before Rin would come in from work anyway, so it was just as well.

Kakashi slouched over to the couch in the sitting room and nearly threw himself on it, snatching a random book up from the table to idly leaf through. That turned out to be a bad idea, since his eyes had already gotten tired from all of the reading and writing he had been doing through day and a headache quickly formed from reading the much more condensed text of a book. He tossed it back onto the table and lay back with his arm over his eyes in attempt to protect them from light.

He figured he must have fallen asleep, since he later opened his eyes to a giggling Rin and a smirking Obito.

"You haven't been sleeping there all day, have you?" Rin said with a smile in her voice.

Kakashi responded with some sort of mutter that was supposed to be "No, I wish". He realized it missed its mark and he stood up, yawning and trying to shake the sleep out of him. He found that some more cricks and sores had replaced the earlier ones.

During dinner, he found that he simply didn't have the energy to pick a fight with Obito, and instead ate in silence and retired to his room when he was finished. He didn't even make a single retort to any of Obito's attempts at goading him into an argument. Usually, this would have Rin follow him to his room and ask him what was wrong, but she didn't this time. She seemed a little tired at the table, too, come to think of it. And very _distracted_.

But as soon as he reached his room again, he no longer felt lethargic; he had suddenly felt annoyingly restless and awake. Gah, why do second winds always come at the worst times? Well, no matter. What did matter was that the atmosphere of his room turned very stifling, and he had no wish to go anywhere near that paper-strewn desk.

He decided that maybe he should go to the old sparring grounds to do some exercise instead of working or sleeping, to keep his muscles from degenerating from inactivity. And then he got it into his head that he should take the window from his room instead of going downstairs and through the front door as to not alert his housemates of his actions. Not that they would have cared, or that it would have made any difference, but he felt like avoiding them both for the time being.

The window slid open easily (good thing he kept Obito from painting over the latch), and he poked his head out, looking back and forth to make sure the coast was clear. When he felt satisfied, he pulled himself up onto the sill, then dropped himself down onto the lower level, and then the first-floor roof. From here it was just a matter of sliding to an edge and dropping off one more time. He actually did this rather quickly and with little difficulty, which is pretty damn good for someone who doesn't do this sort of thing often, and certainly not for a living like the ninja.

Not one tile or thatch kicked out of place, either. Much better than when he was younger.

He walked to the grounds with an easy stroll. The night air was nice, cool, and there was lots of it; a good change from sitting around inside. It certainly already did him well to clear his head of his problems. The dull ache in his skull from the overtaxing of his mind and eyes decreased noticeably.

When he reached the sparring grounds, he was a bit confused to see someone else already there, practicing his punches. The man didn't seem particularly familiar, dark-haired and tanned, wearing a thick vest and fingerless gloves that he immediately associated with some sort of gang. Kakashi decided to pay the man no mind, however; he didn't know this man, and he didn't doubt that there were people other than him and his household that came here from time to time. He found himself a decent place away from the other man and started warming up.

Kakashi's muscles seemed particularly responsive today, even though he hadn't been working out or even really been sparring/fighting with the others. After warming up, he was pummeling on the training post with quick and precise attacks. The amount of focus he could maintain on his movements and the force he used made him feel like he just now woke up, and that he'd been shambling around like a half-conscious all day, if not _longer_.

Yes, his movements were fast today. He was almost in that state of mind where he was amazed he could keep up with himself. Well, this kind of talent and skill can hardly be wasted, can it? Maybe he'll pick a fight with Obito tomorrow just to show off. But before or after Rin comes home from work? If he's ruthless to Obito and Rin's there, she'll stop the fight before it gets good, but, hey, what's the fun in beating up your best friend if there's no one to show it off to?

"Excuse me… what village are you from? I don't recognize you, and you don't have your hitai-ate on," a low voice said from the side.

Kakashi snapped out of the punching-and-contemplating zone he'd been in and looked towards the intruder to his thoughts. It was the man that had been training on the other side of the grounds, and now that he was closer, Kakashi could see the silvery plate with the Leaf symbol on his forehead tan, shining under his dark, spiky bangs that swept backwards, intelligent green eyes glinting underneath. The first reaction to this was intense revulsion, followed by anxiety and his fight-or-flight response strongly suggesting flight.

The ninja, unfortunately, picked up on this immediately, and one brow furrowed as his lips turned into an expression of casual annoyance that he might have found a newbie that was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. "I'm Inrou Zenisoku, a medic-nin assigned to work in the clinic here. Konohagakure isn't a small village but I would think I'd remember someone who had hair like yours. So who are you? What village are you from?"

"Erm… I'm Hatake Kakashi… and I'm from _this_ village…" he mumbled out in confusion.

Zenisoku blinked. "I mean, what ninja village do you come from?"

Understanding of what the ninja meant cut through the confusion suddenly, and Kakashi's eyes went wide. "Oh! No, no! I'm not a ninja at all! I'm just an… an accountant." He wanted to say businessman, or entrepreneur, but as his business wasn't actually off the ground yet, he couldn't bring himself to. "And I've always lived here."

"Really?" Zenisoku looked at him skeptically. "But just a moment ago, you were controlling your chakra so well for someone who _isn't_ a ninja. Were you trained by a ninja here?"

Kakashi nearly corrected the man to explain to him that until the clinic reopened, there had been no shinobi anywhere near his little town, but caught himself. No need to get snarky with a guy that probably knows fifty-odd ways to kill you before you know it. Instead, he simply shook his head.

"Amazing," Zenisoku continued, "You've really got a talent for it. Why, I can only imagine how good of a ninja you'd make if you'd lived in Konoha."

"Funny, my father said the same exact thing."

"Oh, did he? And he's not a ninja either?"

"No, sir. He was an accountant, like I am now."

Zenisoku caught the use of past tense as Kakashi spoke of his father, which was evident in his face, and he sidestepped it quickly. "So… Hatake Kakashi, huh? I remember that the clinic's townie Yagami Rin talked about her housemate with a similar name getting fired by the guy that came in with a bunch of bruises not long ago. You the same kid?"

"Eh, yeah. I am. I wasn't the one that beat him up, though." He paused a moment. "Not that I didn't want to, with what he said about Rin… but Obito got to him first."

"I know, Rin told me the whole story. From the looks of the bruises, though, your friend also would've been prime material for the academy's back in Konoha."

"Well…" Kakashi noticed subtext to what Zenisoku had said, but he couldn't decipher it, "we do spar all the time."

The ninja smiled widely. "Of course. Funny how sparring with others can help you pick up tricks, hmm?"

"Yeah… funny…" Kakashi turned away but looked sideways at Zenisoku. This didn't insult the ninja, if not simply amuse him more.

"Look, it's getting late, Hatake," Zenisoku said after a bit of a quiet laugh to himself, "I've got work to wake up for in the morning. I suggest you get to bed, too. Even when you were hitting that post, you looked half-asleep."

"I always look that way," Kakashi replied with a shrug, and he looked down at his watch. Damn, the shinobi was right. He'd been out here for hours, and it was getting close to midnight. Oh boy, he hadn't meant to stay out so late. If the others back at the minka figured out he had snuck out and was still not back, one of them was going to be awake and waiting for him to see what the hell was up with him.

Okay, there was damn near no chance he'd come home to an empty room; one of them was going to be sitting there, waiting for him, so his fate relied on which one. Obito would pick a fight that mostly likely would end in fists, and Kakashi would certainly be too tired to keep off most of those punches. But Rin would reprimand scold him, ask him a couple rather non-assuming questions, then bid him goodnight. Kakashi shivered in the cold night air with the thought.

He hoped it was Obito waiting.

.-.-.-.-.

Kakashi awoke the next day to an absolutely throbbing headache, which was, unfortunately, not caused by alcohol. He and Obito did a number on each other the night before, and Kakashi might have more than some pain and a couple bruises at the moment if Rin hadn't come in and pulled them apart in the heat of battle. Blood wasn't drawn, but both of them were already turning colors. Now Kakashi had huge welts all over his body, which, with his naturally pale skin, made him look like he had some sort of terrible affliction.

Maybe it was a good thing he was unemployed at the moment, after all. He couldn't imagine explaining the big purple-and-blue splotches on his arm and face to his old boss. Hell, he had to lie about why his arm was in a sling not a month before he quit his job since he didn't think he'd understand.

He looked at his clock beside his bed and hissed in frustration. He'd meant to wake up before Rin left for work and ask her some questions about the clinic. You know, about how well everything's going for her, if she's getting along with the shinobi and the other nurses there. And especially tell her about his meeting with Inrou Zenisoku before she heard it from the ninja first (she'd only entered the fight the night before long enough to break it up).

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got with himself, since the more he thought about it, the more questions buzzed up into his head. Rin talked little about the clinic, most likely to keep from scaring him and Obito about any of her interactions with the ninja, but now that he's met one, he _had_ to know. He had to know if they were all as friendly towards her as Inrou Zenisoku seemed to be, or if Inrou Zenisoku was a special case. And if it was special, why? Is she popular among the ninja? Do they like having someone from the town they can talk to? Do they respect her? Or is she popular only with the male ninja? If that's the case, do they look at her in adoration, or in lust? Do they respect her as a valuable member of the medical staff, or do they see her as a plaything?

Damn, this bugged Kakashi more than it should have. It was a wonder that Obito wasn't tearing his own hair out with similar questions of Rin's job. After all, Obito and Rin dated before, and Obito still liked Rin so obviously that it nearly hurt to watch (still made for a good teasing point, though). Perhaps if it had been Obito who'd met Zenisoku last night, that'd be the case. Kakashi could easily see Obito chewing his nails and pacing all night and nearly exploding onto Rin with half-formed questions the following morning. If Kakashi did not knock him out during the fight after his return, of course.

Kakashi's muscles were screaming at him to not move, but the bed sores were uncomfortable, so he flung himself up and hoped sheer momentum would propel him at least until he reached the bath. He soon slipped out of the tired soreness as he did more things around the house, and he found himself feeling much better than the day before. The exercise last night really did good for him.

He took his booking materials out of his room and worked on the charts outside for a change, on the edge of the back porch. The air felt unusually cold today, telling him that Autumn really was here, although the leaves weren't going to turn anytime soon. It didn't bother him, though. Every once in a while, a brisk wind would attempt to blow the papers around, usually only making pages flutter in their bindings. That didn't bother him, either. It only made him blot up a character he was writing once, which he merely scratched out and rewrote.

Every time footsteps came down the street, he peaked his head out from behind the minka to see who it was. He recognized most of them, but it took some time to recall their names, and they looked older than he remembered. He came to realize that it'd been years since he actually talked to most of his neighbors, even though he knew them well at one point in his life. How was it that it'd been so long that he could remember them looking younger? Oh, right, ever since he'd started working at that place, he would just go straight home, and usually didn't look at a thing around him as he went; just plowed down the street with only the destination in mind.

"I haven't actually talked to people outside in years, I guess," he said aloud. Once uttered, he frowned inadvertently. The phrase sounded much more depressing in the air than it did in his head. Did he really make himself into some sort of shut-in with his job as an accountant? God, what they say about being an accountant making you into a dull person was completely true, wasn't it?

This point became utterly clear to him: he wasn't going to be able to afford being a shut-in when he started this business. Sure, he knew that already, but he didn't realize until now how much of a significant difference that meant for him. The people he'd thought about hiring were people who had or would soon quit from his last job, but he'll have to hire more hands, people that he didn't know or talk to. And he'll have to talk to more contacts and suppliers than those he'd already obtained, too. Not to mention customers… Oh, if his tentative discussion with the ninja meant anything, he was going to have to get comfortable with talking again… _especially_ with ninja since they're the ones that'll be bringing in the most capital.

Another person was coming down the street, so he peeked around. Aha! It was Obito coming home.

"Oi, bakayarou!" Kakashi called out, waving a hand from behind the minka.

Obito blinked and looked at the house in confusion, then saw the waving arm and tilted his head. "Kakashi? What are you doing back there? Did you break the wall again?"

"What do you mean did _I_ break the wall again? You were the one that broke it last time!" Kakashi retorted, "Nevermind that. I want to talk to you about something before Rin gets home."

"Huh? What about?"

"About a ninja from Rin's clinic I talked to last night."

* * *

I apologize for a boring chapter with very little dialogue and mostly talking about business. I have a feeling, though, that the only people who read this story are the ones who are not put off by such prose.


	5. Angry!

Disclaimer: It be in the first chapter. Yarr.

I really should have said something to the people who reviewed in the A/N of the last chapter like I usually like to do in other stories. I'll address all the ones (4) I've gotten so far, hokay? And remember, authors run well with a steady diet of reviews and material. You don't have to worry about material with how Naruto is running in recent chapters, but reviews? Hmm?  
Hikari Minamoto: No pressure! –laughs- Well, I try to not get pressured by it, though I find that with how busy I've been, I've hardly been able to write anything at all (my readers for my non-Naruto stories must be so angry at me). By the way, nice stories you've got there.  
AnneNoir: Your review was just fine, since your English isn't really as bad as you think it is (a little odd, but native speakers can write worse). I must say, I'm very flattered that someone who isn't a native speaker enjoys my writing.  
hakuisagirl: I complain about my (lack of) readership a lot, and sometimes complain that it must be me that keeps people from popping up. But yes, you—and others—are reading, and I like being reminded of that! –laughs-

* * *

"He mistook you for another ninja?!" Obito cried out.

The loud declaration made Kakashi wince. Leave it to Obito to forget that they were outside in view of neighbors. "Yes, he did, but that's not the point."

"Oh really? You're not just trying to lord over that a real ninja thought you were a ninja, too? Yeah, right."

"No, seriously Obito. He saw the result of your beating up my boss in the clinic and commented that you also would have made a good ninja. So it's not about that."

"What? I am? He did?"

"Obito!"

"Fine, fine. Then get to the point, huh?"

Kakashi sighed. "The point is that I talked to a _ninja_ from _Rin's clinic_." He paused a moment and watched Obito.

Obito sat for a moment in silence before figuring out what Kakashi was implying. "Oh! You mean… Did he tell you anything? I mean, about what people are doing there and—"

Kakashi cut him off and rose, moving towards the door. "Wait a minute. Let's get inside before we continue discussing this at least. You're too noisy and attract attention like the inconsiderate sort of brat you are."

"Kakashi! Teme--!" Although Obito had set up for an argument, he followed Kakashi inside and resolved to just glare at him when they went into the main room and sat down. Sure, he wanted to get into a fight with Kakashi, especially after hearing that this ninja thought he was one of them, and the fight from the night before really hadn't been resolved since Rin, of course, interfered. Obito had _bruises_ from that fight, too!

"Look—" Kakashi began, "I don't know how all the people down at the clinic think about Rin or about the other people in the town. This guy though-- Inrou Zenisoku—seemed like he's on good terms with her. He doesn't seem to think lower of non-shinobi, either, although he might think that we're somehow wasting our talents in fighting by _not_ being shinobi. Thing is, he's very strange about the things he said, and the sorts of compliments he gave. Hell, I couldn't even figure out what he meant by all of it."

"Well, what all did he say? You know, I wasn't there, so you'd have to tell me."

Kakashi thought a moment, scratching his head. "There was something about being able to control my chakra really well. I have no idea what that is. Some sort of energy that ninja use, I think, but it's not like I ever studied it."

"Hmm… maybe that's just a ninja-thing. Like, saying you control your chakra really well means that you're attacks are just really precise and that you aren't tense."

"That… That actually sounds pretty reasonable. I mean, it wasn't like I was doing any of that 'ninjutsu' stuff that they do, like turning into other people and making fireballs. So I guess he was just complimenting my form."

Obito rolled his eyes, regretting that he gave Kakashi a reason to be more arrogant. "And what else did he say?"

"Rin seems to trust him, because she told him everything about what happened with my former boss. I'm not sure if she told the others, but she probably did since its Rin. She said that she was going to tell them anyway, right?"

"Yeah, so how is this important?"

"Because he said he told her the 'whole story'. Which includes us. The two single men that live with the single woman."

Obito blinked. "I guess I understand. I dunno… I'm just so used to it being the three of us now that I forget that it's unusual. So did the ninja say anything about it being weird? Make any sort of criticisms?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't know if he was avoiding it or just didn't care. He had some sort of undertone to what he was saying but… I can't say what it was. It might have been that. It might have been something else."

"What else did he say?"

The silver-haired man tried to fill in any gaps in the conversation that he could remember to the black-haired man as best he could before Obito saw the time and flew into the kitchen, sputtering that Rin was due sooner than later and that he needed to get to work on preparing the food for the burner. But Obito fumbled more than once while he cut up the ingredients, nearly cut himself at some point and even had to stop for a bit in attempt to get his wits about him.

Although the conversation seemed to put Kakashi in more of a piece of mind than before, it seemed the opposite for Obito. The questions that badgered the accountant's mind were now seeded into the cook's, and it was just not doing well for him if he almost slices a finger off because he wasn't paying attention. Although the better possibility of the shinobi at the clinic simply being pleasant, trustworthy individuals might have been the more likely, it was difficult to not let the thousand worse possibilities buzz within his skull as black flies around meat in the sun.

He found that he certainly did not like the idea of competition for Rin in the form of ninja. Jealousy wasn't the newest emotion for Obito to experience, certainly, nor was it infrequent, but jealousy concerning Rin wasn't so familiar. Were there Konoha ninja that saw Rin as more than a nurse?

And, really, why _didn't_ Rin talk about work? He did all the time. Even Kakashi ranted about work frequently before he left. Is it more than just waiting until the men of the household grew comfortable with her job, or were the way the ninja spoke and interacted with her going to strike them as… unsettling? Just what do medic-nin do when they get bored between patients?

Oh no, he did not want to think about that at all. Most of the cooking was finished, so he reached for the sponge and water to prepare to clean the pan he'd been cooking the meat in, further attempting to keep such things out of his mind. He wasn't succeeding, however. Even if they merely played chess or showed pictures of their families, he couldn't help but think of the thousands of uses for the examining tables and the various tools, and he didn't enjoy thinking about _any_ of them. He soaked the sponge and returned to the dirty pan on the stove. Especially if Rin was—

A thin hand grabbed his wrist and pulled it back, and the thoughts that clouded Obito's mind flung to the four winds. Rin was beside him with the firm grip on his arm, her own hand and arm now getting wet from the soapy water that ran down from the sponge. He stared, bewildered. How did he not notice when she came in? And… why was she holding his hand like this?

"Obito, be careful! You nearly burned yourself!" was her answer what was racing through his mind. Her face had some surprise to it, but Obito was confused by her seriousness.

"Rin! When did you get here?! I didn't hear you come in!"

Her eyes turned softer, sympathetic. "Just a minute ago, and it's not like I snuck in. Is something wrong, Obito?"

"Huh? Um, no. Nothing… nothing is wrong? I mean, just because I didn't hear you come in? It's not like that's the first time that happened—"

"Obito, you were about to wash a still-sizzling pan with a sponge and your bare hands."

"Huh?" he looked from Rin to the pan. It was indeed still popping and hissing from heated liquid. How had he not noticed that?

Rin sighed. "Look, you're obviously stressed about something, so we'll talk about it later, 'kay?" She picked up some of the plates. "I'll help you carry the food out. I'm starving and Kakashi is starting to get fidgety from waiting for a delicious meal he can already smell."

"That… sounded weird the way you said it."

"Okay, fine." Rin giggled, acting like she wanted to shyly cover her face with her hand like she always did, but couldn't for the plates in her hands. "Then let me put it in simplest terms. You have food. We are hungry. Come on!"

This effectively disarmed Obito, so he responded with picking up some food himself and following Rin to the table. Kakashi was already there, looking aloof and just enough annoyed that the food took so long that Obito could notice. Obito's response was to frown and ignore Kakashi, and since he had someone else that made for a much better subject to pay attention to, it really wasn't that hard.

He'd thanked Rin early into the dinner, and asked her why she hadn't been talking about work. She looked at him and Kakashi quizzically, noticing that they both seemed keenly interested in the subject by how they now stared at her, and gave a small laugh. Why would they have any interest in her work at the clinic, she asked. It was all intravenous drips and sterilizing and needles, anyway. It would make for the sort of dinner conversation that would bore the average person half to death, let alone the two young men she lived with (Kakashi tried to act offended that he'd get so bored, but she retorted that she knew he'd read one of her medical books if he was ever experiencing a particularly bad case of insomnia).

"But, you know, we wonder about how well you're doing with the shinobi there," Obito finally said.

"What?" Rin laughed. "Are you two still on that? Kakashi, didn't you meet Zenisoku-kun just last night? Zenisoku-kun told me about it at work today… said that you two had a bit of a pleasant chat, even complimented your fighting technique. Did he strike you as anything but a normal, honest person?"

Kakashi gave a slight involuntary frown like he always did when he'd gotten caught. "Well, no. He didn't strike me as odd or anything like that. But, Rin, ninja live completely separate from normal people, don't they? They all live in hidden villages, and they even get hunted down if they try to leave the villages without permission. It isn't too unreasonable to think that they have a completely different mindset than us."

Rin's eyes narrowed and her jaw gripped. Oh, shit. Obito started to panic. Rin just got offended. Rin never gets offended, but here she is, offended. How did she get offended? Was what Kakashi said that offensive? But Obito thought the same way as Kakashi, so would Rin pick up on that and be offended by him, too? Shiiiit.

"Is _that_ what this is all about?" Rin's voice started out low, almost threatening. "You really think that they're _different_ than you? Than _us_? That they think of us as _lesser_ because of how they were raised? I've got news for you guys. Most ninja aren't from those big ninja clans that train their children since birth to be soulless killers. Most ninja come from normal families. Konoha has a large population of average civilians running their shops and helping their commerce. Their whole economy is based on their interaction with the outside world, with people who are not ninja. Being a ninja is a job that has demand! Do you know what most ninja have as work? They fix fences and babysit children. And ninja have families themselves. They have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and husbands, _children_. And they _choose_ to be ninja. They have friendships, and it doesn't matter to them if their friends are ninja or not!" Rin looked away from the both of them in disgust. "That's like saying all accountants are boring, weak old men and all cooks are all out-of-shape perfectionists!"

"Umm… I'm actually not an accountant anymore—"

"Shut up, Kakashi," Obito hissed in panic.

"Shutting up."

The three were very silent for an eternity that lasted about ten seconds. Obito cowered behind his chopsticks and didn't dare make eye contact with either of them, but he could see that Kakashi was finding a fond interest in the pattern the polished wood grain made on the table. Rin was completely out of his vision, but he could hear her pick up her cup of tea and shortly after set it back down.

"I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have blown up on you like that," she broke in finally, "It's nothing against the two of you, really, but a lot of people feel the way that you do and… I let it get a little more personal than it needs to be. You guys are just worried about me, after all. The people I work with are just like everyone else, honestly. Most of them are very polite, and it's not at all hard working with them. They don't act like they're superior or try to take advantage of me. They're medic-nin, and they just want to help people, you know? Otherwise, I really doubt they'd be medic-nin. I'd really doubt they'd even be ninja if they didn't want to help."

"Sorry," Kakashi choked out.

"No, really. You don't have to be sorry, Kakashi. What you said wasn't exactly wrong. They do mostly live only in the hidden villages, and they usually need permission to leave unless they want to risk becoming missing-nin. But, you know, they aren't self-sufficient. If they were, they wouldn't work in teams."

"Teams…" Obito mused a moment. "Rin, do they know about us? I mean, about our situation of living together? Your…coworkers don't find it odd?"

A smile (thankfully) split on her face and she shook her head. "That's funny, Obito. They seem to think that we're just like a team, too. It's actually pretty common for their teams to have two boys and one girl, even when they just start out."

"So they have teams of three?" Kakashi balked. That was creepily similar.

"Not… exactly. They have three subordinates and a leader to a cell, so it's really four. But we really are a lot like a ninja team, ne? Lacking a sensei or a sempai, but we stick together." Her smile turned warm, and the two men sighed in grateful relief. They were off the hook.

.-.-.-.-.

Obito woke up early the next several mornings to make breakfast. Kakashi wasn't really waking up for them, being that he was staying up late instead of waking up early to do his work, but that didn't mean his breakfast went to waste. Instead of throwing it out or trying to make his and Rin's breakfast bigger, he just did some tweaking to the food and put it in a bento for Rin.

The first time he did this, she laughed and giggled uncontrollably, saying that this was the sort of thing that mothers and girlfriends did. That would have embarrassed Obito too much to try it again if it weren't for the small kiss on his cheek, followed by a sweet thank-you as she ran out the door.

Kakashi was, of course, already awake by the time Obito came home, toiling away with papers in increasingly random places in and around the minka. He did, of course, tease Obito at first when he learned about the bento—more, apparently, because that means Kakashi had to make his own damn breakfast and lunch when he woke up—but that was just part of the usual deal of complaints that Kakashi so enjoyed to throw at Obito.

Today, as Obito walked back, he was greeted with Kakashi's voice, once again, calling from somewhere that he couldn't figure out immediately. He looked around for the mop of silver hair or a waving hand. Okay, he can't find him. He walked closer to the house. Where is his voice coming from? It sounded like it was coming from everywhere, but as he got closer, it got louder, so he was still somewhere around the house. Then, partially by instinct, he looked up.

"Kakashi! What the hell are you doing up on top of the roof!? How did you even get up there?!"

The shoulders under the spiky, silver tufts shrugged, as if this wasn't at all a strange or dangerous thing to do. "I was curious how this would effect my productivity. You know, despite it being kind of windy, the constant need to keep a decent balance while working on my papers seems to have increased my focus rather than the other way around. You should try it."

"Kakashi, seriously, this isn't funny! I'm surprised the whole neighborhood isn't out here staring at you and waiting for you to fall to your death! Just get down, you ass!" Obito shook his head. "Rin would faint dead if she saw this…"

"I don't understand why. We all used to sneak out from the upper-story rooms when we were younger. I think Rin even still sits on the roof outside her window to watch stars sometimes. Besides, ninja do this all the time, don't they?"

"Yeah! But we're not ninja! And you're on the steep, tall roof on top, not the flatter, lower roofs!"

There was some muttering about Obito being a baby, and Kakakshi's head disappeared. Obito crossed his arms and huffed self-righteously, inwardly cheering that he finally won a verbal fight against Kakashi… until he heard the sound of a body sliding down the roof, and saw a pair of legs wearing Kakashi's pants swing over the side.

"Oh shit, Kakashi!" Obito ran forward, cursing, images of a broken corpse of his best friend running through his head like a bad slasher flick or a gory traffic school safety film. A thousand regrets sprung forth about all the times that they fought over stupid things and never took a moment to tell that best friend how much he respected him and how thankful he was for him to always be there. Sure, they fight all the time, but Kakashi… Kakashi was like Obito's brother! What would he do if Kakashi died? Oh god, Rin was going to be devastated.

He reached the side of the house so quick that he could hardly think about it, just in time to see Kakashi easily and confidently land on his feet. Obito stared at him wide eyed, breathing deeply for air even though he didn't run that far. His eyes stung.

"See? I'm fine." A pause. "What? Did you think I was going to get hurt? Geez, you're even starting to tear up, ya' big crybaby."

"Kakashi…" The tears now welled up so much in Obito's eyes that his vision blurred. His face was hot, and he shook in anger. "Teme…! You soulless bastard!" He lept forward, fists up, and tackled Kakashi to the ground. "You had me worried, you prick! Don't do stupid shit like that again! I swear to god, if I had to drag your injured ass down to the clinic, I'd tell Rin to make sure you didn't any of your favorite foods while you were down there! I swear, you are the _worst_ best friend _ever_!"

They actually tired themselves out before Rin got home, so she didn't have to break it up. But she did stare at the two of them, looking as filthy and messed up as they did from the fight. She stared at Obito's face a little longer, making an odd grin, before saying she'd take them out to dinner and strongly suggesting that they should clean themselves up before they go.

"You know," Kakashi said as an aside while they washed up, "She was staring at you like that because those tear-streaks on your dirty face make you look like a little kid."

* * *

Bwahaha, Rin's rant is the longest string of text in this chapter. Lucky you guys, I actually finished this up pretty quick instead of it taking forever before I get around to it. Hopefully, I'll be so inspired to get to work on my other stories.  
Teme - I trust you know what this means by now. It's usually translated as a rather offensive way of saying "you", usually to someone you're speaking to, and is otherwise an insult. Naruto uses it for Sasuke frequently.


	6. Hai, Rin san

Disclaimer: Ha Ha! Chapter one.

Sauru Tsukiyumi Sanbi's Faeble: (Long name is long.) D'awww, why thank you for the complements! And with the whole ObitoxRin… Good that you feel that way, since the writer feels the same way.  
–innocent whistle-

* * *

It quickly became a custom to drag the boys to eat out every time Rin got her paycheck. Perhaps that seemed more like squandering money at first, but she was getting a nice, hefty sum from her work at the clinic so that not even Kakashi could complain about the indulgence. Of course, this new ritual wasn't quickly learned; the three of them still fought and bickered, even at the tables, and it would take more than one try often to get Obito and Kakashi to dress properly. But it was nice to get out of the minka sometimes, and to eat food made by others even while Obito was a good cook himself.

Things were looking better than the patchy uncertainty from after Kakashi quit his job to a more stable household again. Obito's job remained steady, Rin's work at the clinic certainly proved to be much of the same, and Kakashi had finally gotten to the point of actually starting his business (granted, he didn't exactly have an office or employees yet, but at this rate, it wouldn't be long). As autumn trudged further, it came closer to Rin's yearly trip out of town.

Rin had left the town every year ever since she'd moved here as a child, so it wasn't something that Obito or Kakashi questioned. It was family matters, she'd explained when she was younger, and again after her father died when they asked why she still had to go. But this year's trip would be special, since some of her coworkers were coming with her. Sure, her rant before had shaken out most of the boys' prejudices, but she sincerely doubted they'd like the idea of her traveling with them, especially if they found out where she was going… She had to tell them. Should she tell them now, during this expensive dinner?

A sigh. No, Rin learned better than to bring these things up at dinner, anymore. Especially at a fancy restaurant. Bringing things up meant more potential for an argument, and more potential for embarrassment. Besides, she had tried seeing if they would react better by having sudden things sprung onto them if it was done in a restaurant before. She once told them that she was going to start dating one of her coworkers, and they both reacted uniquely but still badly. Well, the initial reaction wasn't at all unique, since they both bit clear through their wooden chopsticks, but Kakashi quietly pulled out the broken tips from his mouth with the most bewildered expression of mortification while Obito shrieked about splinters in his tongue. And then the both of them ragged on her for the rest of the night for playing a joke on them.

She decided talking about her trip could wait until the walk back.

.-.-.-.-.

"Is that all?" Kakashi said matter-of-factly, looking more interested in the darkened road they were walking on than the conversation.

Rin looked at them both in surprise. They were taking this better than she'd thought. "You don't mind?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I figured it was about time for your yearly trip, anyway, and you'll be traveling with ninja instead of alone, so it sounds better to me."

"You don't even mind that I'll be stopping in Konoha during the trip?" she pressed, "What about you Obito?"

Obito was still grinning and patting his stomach in satisfaction, but when he found he was being addressed, his smile fell a bit and he answered, "I'm not completely okay with it, but Kakashi's right. You're probably in better hands now than you had been for traveling since your father died, right?"

Rin relapsed into silence, watching the two of them in consideration. The sun was setting sooner and rising later. The autumnal equinox had been past for a month or so, and it was getting cooler outside. The leaves were turning and dropping, looking almost like large sakura petals in the streetlights. She looked up to the sky, dark and cloudy. It was going to rain tomorrow.

A few thoughts floated through her mind as the leaves drooped down. There was no way that Kakashi and Obito already got over her being associated with ninja. They never had any real interaction until that day Kakashi met Zenisoku-kun with ninja they were aware of (he might not have even been aware then if Zenisoku-kun didn't approach himself). Before, the only time they had seen ninja hitai-ate in person was during the war, and that was not a pleasant experience for either of them. Obito's mother had died, Kakashi's caregiver was bedridden and unable to support him from that point on, and they'd had many close calls during the attack from hostile ninja from the enemy nation of rock.

Now, they both would occasionally spar with some of the curious shinobi that worked in her clinic, but there was still a hesitance, and they almost did it out of trying not to draw attention to their uneasiness around them.

"I hope the weather clears up before the trip," Rin said wistfully, now approaching the minka. The sudden sound of her own voice in a silence that held only footsteps on a road startled her a bit, and she just then realized that all three had been silent as they walked.

.-.-.-.-.

There were lots to do before she left. She complained to herself that she really should get these things together before the last minute like she did every year, and she made this complaint every year in attempt to quell herself in the annoyance she rightfully deserved from her procrastination. She had papers to find, reports to write, family documents to sift through, scrolls and books to glance over, heirlooms and awards to consider bringing, and nevermind about _clothing_.

It did not help that the attic was in perpetual state of suffocating dusty disarray, where most of her things were. In fact, most of what had taken residence in the attic of the minka belonged to her—or rather, her family. Before her father died, they lived in a house big enough for a large family, and though the two of them lived in it alone, it was completely furnished and decorated. Rin couldn't bring herself to get rid of everything after her father's death, and in fact found that familial obligation required her to keep a lot of things that she might otherwise rather not have around to trip over.

So, when she moved into the minka, up into the attic it went.

The attic was almost completely untouched, because the only person that had anything to do with most of its contents was Rin, and she rarely went in there save for the yearly trip and to run up every once in a while for a medical book or something like that. A few times, she's taken to staying up there while she read what she needed, but since she never got around to cleaning it, it was better for her health most often to just take her books and materials into her own room. But every time Rin entered that attic, she kept cursing at herself and swearing that she will clean it when she comes back, when she has the time, et cetera, if only because cleaning up the place might make it easier to do her last-minute preparations for her trip every year.

She nearly tripped over a box, succeeding in whirling up a lot of dust. She waved it from her face and continued searching for what she needed. Which box would have it? A box to the side that had a large kanji denominating its contents clicked through her peripheral vision, and she leapt over some more boxes towards it, trying to be careful to not land on something other than wooden floor. Sandal tracks weren't something she needed on anything up in this maze of mess, since most of it was important, if not just important to her.

Still cursing to herself, Rin finally came down into the top normal level of the house, wiping some sweat off her brow since the attic was stuffy and warmer than it should be with the season dropping farther down the thermometer. This action brushed a bit of dirty water onto the back of her hand, alerting to her how filthy she was, and all at once she felt itchy and grody and wanted desperately to take a bath. She glanced at the papers in her other hand, then shook them. Just as she thought, gray-brown dust flew out wildly, dulling the light in the air for a good while before drifting towards the floor that used to be clean. "Guh, wonderful." She marched to the nearest window, opened it, and flapped the papers back and forth outside like they were a dirty rug. The remainder was wiped off with a duster, and the papers were deposited into her room before she readied herself for a bath.

Her bath was midway interrupted when Obito burst in, screaming at the top of his lungs to whoever he was looking at outside the bathroom (Kakashi) about some chore that he didn't want to do. When he looked forward and faced the person already occupying the bathroom, naked and lounging in the tub, there was a slight, wide-eyed pause before Obito made a strangled yelp and sprung right back out of the room, leaving some cleaning products and an open door behind him.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of the story. Kakashi followed up with annoyed remarks about what could make Obito squeak like a little kid and run from the bathroom, and vocally made the assumption that there was a large spider within and that he was too much of an arachnophobic crybaby to do anything about it. He turned into the bathroom like he was just turning a corner in the house, with his hand on the handle by pure habit, obviously not expecting the sight that scared off Obito to be his naked female housemate. He stopped right in his tracks.

Kakashi's awkward, wide-eyed stare lasted longer than Obito's, if only because it took longer for the information to decode and process in his brain. Rin couldn't help him out with either speaking or covering herself up, still stunned from Obito. Lucky for him, he'd already had his hand on the handle, so when the situation finally dawn on him, he quickly pulled back into the hallway and took the door with him until it clicked shut.

And then they proceeded arguing, this time with new subject material.

"Why the _hell_ didn't you say anything, Obito?!"

"You went in too fast to look, you pervert!"

"_Pervert?!_"

"That's right! Or was there another reason you stared for as long as you did?!"

"I was shocked! And it wasn't _that_ long!"

"Yes it was! You were totally ogling her, Kakashi!"

"I was not! If I'd do such a thing, I wouldn't just waltz right in and stare at her! I do have a basic understanding of decorum and privacy, you know!"

"Oh, so it's okay to look at her _without_ her knowing, then?! Do you do that often?!"

"Damnit, Obito! That is _not_ what I meant!"

Rin at first tried sinking, humiliated, into the bathwater like normal girls would, but the argument turned physical quickly, noisily tumbling around in the hallway like it was a wrestling match. When a loud crash erupted from it, she sighed, putting aside her attempt at embarrassment, and got out of the tub. She took her time to dry off and put on a clean robe before opening the door and stepping out.

"A-hem!" Rin cleared her throat loudly to get their attention. "Maybe you guys can, you know, quit it?"

Their heads shot up from the floor-grapple they'd managed to get themselves in, then they immediately separated to their respective sides of the hall, still on their knees, and bowed apologetically. With the bow, they said, in unison, "Hai, Rin-san."

Rin was tempted to laugh in response to the sudden polite behavior towards her following their roughhousing, but she suppressed it into a smile. They always acted more than a little courteous towards her on the days before she had to leave.

"I know you guys didn't mean to peek. No need to beat yourselves up over it. Or each other, for that matter."

They both turned red and looked down to their knees. Rin sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair.

"Why does it seem," she said, "like I'm always schooling you two? I don't even mean to half the time. We're all adults. I don't need to break up your fights all the time or tell you what to do or what not to do. I'm not even the oldest of us three, and I had next to zero confidence growing up. So why do you guys let me boss you around like this?"

"Kakashi's just acting guilty 'cause he was caught staring at your ra—ow!"

Kakashi didn't even look up when he punched Obito in the arm, although his frozen face was now several shades darker.

Rin shook her head. "Geez, it's like we just went through an obligatory, stereotype bath scene in a manga and you guys didn't get the script until the last minute. This wasn't even the first time you guys have accidentally walked in on me. Not to mention either of you stumble in the room while I'm getting dressed about once a week."

"But Rin," Obito tried to speak again, "You're going to be leaving for a few days, and I don't want you leaving with the image of him leering at you like a piece of—ow! Damnit Kakashi!"

"The point is that it's not about me being seen in the nude. You guys, the town I grew up in before my mother and grandmother died was old fashioned and had unisex bathhouses. I just want to know why you guys follow me like that."

That did make them shut up for a bit. But Obito still pressed, "But there's a difference between a kid in a public bath and a woman who could be taken advantage of by—ow! _KAKASHI!_ I swear to the high heavens if you don't quit punching me in the arm—I didn't even _mention_ you that time!"

Kakashi glared at Obito this time, but his own face was no longer just flushed; it was such a violent red that Rin wondered if he'd been holding his breath.

Rin knew that her point was not going to be considered today, and left them to their quarrel so she could get dressed. Better to go for a time that they're not going overboard with courtesy and strike at the weak point, right? She'll bring it up after she comes back from her trip. Maybe she'll start a fight with them herself and rile them up. That's something she'll amuse herself with thinking about on the road.

.-.-.-.-.

"Alright, you boys be careful while I'm gone."

"Hai, Rin-san."

"Remember, try to keep the fights small or outside. I won't be around to separate you and we don't need any more trouble with any bills."

"Hai, Rin-san."

"If you guys get hurt, just go down to the clinic and have them take care of your injuries. I won't be able to bind any wounds, of course, but they're very good at it and I'm sure they'll do it without a thought of compensation since you're getting on good terms with them."

"Hai, Rin-san."

"And if you kill any small children, make sure that you dispose of their bodies away from the playgrounds where the authorities would look first."

"Ha—"

"Hai, Rin-sa—"

Kakashi caught it first, but it didn't matter. Rin was now laughing at both of them for not paying attention to what they were agreeing to.

Obito pouted, standing beside an annoyed-looking Kakashi. "That was cruel, Rin."

"I know, it was." There was guilt in her giggle, but she was still obviously amused by how she caught them unawares like that. She readjusted the sack on her shoulder and glanced back at the ninja that were going to travel with them. They made a signal that told her they were ready to leave when she was.

His pout fell away to an earnest smile. "We'll miss you."

"I'll only be gone for a bit, you know."

"Yeah, but we still always miss you when you leave. Even Kakashi'll climb the up walls every time, you know."

Kakashi markedly ignored the remark. "Rin," he said in a low, sincere tone, "Be careful."

Rin's large, warm, peaceful smile came as a response. She silently beckoned them closer to her with her free hand, as if she was about to tell them a secret. The two looked at each other in question, then approached cautiously, their faces close to hers to hear a whisper. But they didn't get a whisper; they got a quick kiss on the cheek instead, on Kakashi's left and Obito's right since that's what was close from how they stood. They both drew back in surprise.

"I'll be careful as long as you guys are careful, too."

They nodded in stunned silence. She pulled away to meet the ninja waiting for her on the road and started off. Before they went out of sight, she turned around, still smiling, and waved at the two like she a schoolgirl waving at her playmates when she had to leave the playground.

She could see them eave back, Obito with wide swoops of his arms, and Kakashi with his arm high and straight.

Zenisoku-kun beside her made a chuckle. "Those two really look up to you."

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, they do."

* * *

Yes, once again, a fast chapter. I know, I know. I guess possibility of Kakashi dying in the manga is the best inspiration ever. (If that spoiled plot for you… why did you not already know?)  
By the way, for those who don't know, unisex sento and onsen (bathhouses and hot spring baths) in Japan are considered more old-fashioned than separate (rural areas still have unisex onsen in use).  
(Also, the "killing small children" comment was worse before; it was going to be "raping little boys", but that was more my own demented humor than in character for Rin, so I changed it.)


	7. Desert in an Hourglass

Disclaimer: Chapter one. Yes. Still.

I wrote this actually weeks to a month before I uploaded it. My own computer has had no internet since I moved into my brother's house. At least it's given me some time to proofread.  
Sauru Tsukiyumi Sanbi's Faeble: Yay! My humor is well received!  
ninbunny alchemist: It's a bit hard for Kakashi to be fired if he's his own boss now, but many readers seem to think the same way about Kakashi becoming a ninja.

* * *

Obito wasn't kidding when he said Kakashi climbed up the walls every time Rin left. The normally aloof and levelheaded accountant would turn to a pacing, feverishly unsettled basket case, often trying to do anything with singular urgency just to have something occupy himself. He would pace, he would clean, he would do yard work… And even worse, his normal introversion turned trappist. Where he hardly had business outside the house before, he would now avoid any and all human contact, sometimes locking himself up in his room to pace up his own walls.

Kakashi couldn't help but envy Obito, who would turn lethargic and depressed. Sure, it wasn't an ideal state, but Obito at worst would get a bed sore. Kakashi would have cramped joints and worn feet before he finally passed out on his bed at increasingly later times. The result was that Kakashi would always run himself ragged by the time Rin returned, whereas Obito would nearly overflow with joy and energy, and then attitudes would turn a 180 for a few days before things even out.

In less than two days, Kakashi finished all the work that he needed for his business that he could and now had to wait for response from his contacts. This left some time to wear holes into his mats by pacing. And a lot of time to grumble about his contacts being lazy, _and_ _more _time regretting he'd finished his work so quickly when he normally would have stretched it out over the week…and certainly _too much time_ to think about all the things that could go wrong with Rin gone.

Obito and Kakashi both accepted that Rin would leave every year, but with different viewpoints. Obito merely took it as something that happened without question. Kakashi, on the other hand, _understood_ that she would continue to take her trips no matter what he did, so he did nothing. But he worried more than Obito about what could happen. He reasoned, for the longest time, that it was merely a different set of minds: Obito was simpler, whereas Kakashi was more analytical. But as he got older, he had to accept that it stemmed, at least in part, from his own problems.

Hatake Kakashi had serious abandonment issues. When his father killed himself, he had difficulty letting anyone near him, in fear that they would also leave him permanently. He didn't bond with the aunt that became his caregiver, which was just as well. She half-neglected him while he was in her care, and even if he tried to like her, he most likely would have felt far from crushed when the war made her an invalid.

He did, however, inadvertently make a connection with Obito and Rin, the friends he tried not to be friends with. And that war nearly messed up his life worse than he thought it already was. The three of them had been together, shooting the breeze, when enemy shinobi attacked the small town. What had been a boring, partially cloudy day turned into a steaming war zone within a few short hours. It was Hell, and 13 years old is too young to see Hell. Everywhere he looked, there were injuries, casualties, and the three of them could only run, hoping that they were going away from danger.

Then, in all the chaos, they got separated.

Kakashi wasn't sure how it happened, and he was more scared than he ever felt in his life. He was lost and alone, and worried and sick to the stomach. This might have lasted half an hour, but to him, he was alone for a long, burning day…a day that turned from partly cloudy morning to a dull and smoke-choked afternoon. Then a hand grabbed him and tugged him into the rubble, and Kakashi had never been so relieved to see Obito's dirty, tear-streaked face. But Rin was still missing, and they had to find her.

Getting out of cover turned out to be a bad idea; they were almost immediately found by a pair of Rock ninja. Kunai were at their throats faster than they could blink. But one of the Rock ninja must have been attacked by a Leaf ninja, because he cried out in pain and ran off in a direction searching for the culprit, some kunai still hanging from his back. He came up empty, but instead found Rin in an adjacent covering spot, clutching to herself and hardly being able to hide herself with her shivering. She was all he found, so the Rock ninja decided to kill her.

Kakashi jumped and ran forward as fast as his legs could propel him, yet everything seemed to go in slow motion. Far too slow…he was sure that the ninja would catch him, stab him, slash him, _kill_ him. But they didn't. He heard Obito cry out and attack the partner as he reached his own target. Kakashi's hand closed around a kunai that stuck in the ninja's back from the unseen Konoha ninja's attack. He pulled it out, and thrust it back in, over and over. Things turned from slow clarity to a fast blur. Before he came to his senses, he was sore, bruised, and covered with blood that wasn't his own. The two Rock ninja were gone, the screaming, clogged battlefield was quiet and still, and they were alone among the debris.

Kakashi, Obito, and Rin.

Ninja attacked his village. Ninja saved his and Obito's lives. Ninja disappeared and Rin was almost killed in their place. It was no wonder he had trouble accepting ninja, even now.

Obito's mother died from an explosive tag going off closer to the civilians than it should have been. Kakashi's aunt was crushed from her collapsed house and survived only to live the rest of her days in her bed. And (most importantly to Kakashi) Rin's father had left shortly before it for the yearly trip, alone. It was the first time he'd left her behind, and he obviously left her behind because of fear she'd be put in danger with the war. In the wake of the battle, Kakashi thought little of her father; his absence seemed more harm than good for Rin, being that she was attacked and unprotected. But then, his trip lasted longer, and longer, and his return kept getting delayed for months…

Eventually, Rin received word he was dead. Ever since that attack, Rin had to grow up, become the head of her household, and do the trips alone. She'd yet to delay, yet to come home later than a few hours. She never had to send a message saying that she might take a day more as her father did on his last excursion, because she never needed to.

So, naturally, it meant that he freaked out that much more when they _did_ get such a message from her this time, halfway through the week of her departure. The letter was short.

_I'm sorry, you two. Some things have come up here in Konohagakure and I'm afraid I can't come back yet. I know how you two worry, but I really can't do anything about it. I'll come back as soon as I can, though I don't know when that will be, so I can't tell you yet. But I will try to get back as soon as possible, I promise._

_I hope you two are taking care of each other. Please be careful, both of you._

_---Rin_

This sent Obito into long, depressed, lethargic sighs and made him the most like a slug that Kakashi had ever seen, sad that Rin would be even longer in returning. But on the other hand, Kakashi now was at the point of anxiety that he might pull his own teeth out with a set of rusty pliers just to have something to do. He envied Obito's lethargy so much that whenever he saw him, he'd badger on him being lazy and not doing a single thing while Rin was gone. Obito would merely give a half-hearted attempt at a retort and fall back into the sedentary position Kakashi found him in.

The latest time-killing project in Kakashi's room was building a scale model of their small town with whatever he found in his wastebasket beside his desk. At the moment, the most detailed area was the main road and the buildings surrounding it, but he wasn't really happy with his success so far. His hands might've been pretty precise, but sculpting with discarded office-supplies was certainly not his calling in life. He was pondering whether or not to add yellow Post-Its for color when Obito came in.

"I thought I had that door locked," Kakashi grumbled, straightening up a clip that represented a pole.

"We broke that last month, remember? Anyway, I've been thinking…"

"Ah, a milestone of history."

"Quit being an ass and listen to me for once. You know how Rin's always complaining about the attic every year before she leaves? She trips over the clutter up there comes down dirty every time, saying that she'll clean it when she gets back so it doesn't happen again, but she never does. So, I was thinking, you know, as a surprise for when she gets back…"

"Cleaning the attic? Perfect! Is the cleaner in the closet or under the sink? I'll grab the products and the bucket, and you grab the dusters and sponges." Kakashi was already on his way out the door, pushing past Obito.

"Woah!" Obito had to turn around to keep facing Kakashi, "Do we have to do it immediately? I know it was my idea and all but I'd like to—"

Kakashi gave a deadpan stare, and that shut Obito up pretty quick. He complied and they set immediately onto cleaning the attic.

This brought an interesting discovery to the two: the lower levels of the house must have never gotten to too dusty, because the two men of the household could hardly handle it. Kakashi was sneezing and coughing, and could hardly breathe.

"What, are you allergic to dust?" Obito said as sarcastically he could muster while wiping tears from his eyes.

Kakashi was holding his nose, so his response sounded somewhat nasal. "I have sensitive sinuses. At least I'm not crying like a baby."

"I just have dust in my eyes! They're easily irritated." He wiped his face again, showing dirty streaks and puffy, red eyes. "I think I saw a pair of goggles and a cleaning mask while getting the sponges."

"Good idea." Kakashi gasped, then covered his mouth and ran downstairs with Obito. They soon returned, huge, plastic safety goggles framing Obito's now-red eyes, and a ribbed, white cleaning mask secured over Kakashi's mouth and nose. The barriers succeeded in shielding them from the whirlwind of dust, and the two were able to continue working, Kakashi not needing to gasp for air and Obito not distracted by burning tears pouring out of his eyes.

They came across things that they've never seen before, or haven't seen since moving in, or even since Rin's father was still alive. They were reminded of how many things she inherited and had to shove up here just to keep it out of the way. There were books and scrolls that they couldn't decipher, furniture, and clothes all packed away in boxes. Obito was taking a moment to inspect an odd medical scroll he'd found lying on the ground, one that had a diagram of what he suspected was some sort of acupuncture points on human anatomy. It was way above his head, using terms that he wasn't familiar with, so it wasn't long before he rolled it up and tossed it into the nearest box of scrolls.

Kakashi had come across a box that had, at some point, been opened sometime before the dust accumulated and left undisturbed afterwards. He moved the half-standing flaps of cardboard aside and peered in to see if the contents had gotten dirty from exposure. Within were several patterned silk garments, neatly and reverently folded and placed, and he carefully pulled out the one on top to inspect it. A beautiful golden kimono with purple dragons flying in white clouds unfolded in his hands. A thin line of dust ran down the upper front, but one light wipe of the hand made it fall away from the smooth material. He finally recalled the kimono; it was one that Rin had inherited from her mother, bought by her father for an anniversary present. Rin only wore it once, for a friend's wedding.

Kakashi remembered how stunning she looked in it, with a wide blue obi and a golden small rope tied around her waist. He remembered how she took advantage of his being stunned and dragged him onto the dance floor with her after the wedding, saying he looked glum. It turned out she was right about him being depressed, because he near drank himself into a stupor from all the sake being offered at the reception. When they came home, the pain of his throbbing skull and the nausea of his lurching stomach made him moan pitifully, so she even let his head rest on this cool, smooth silk over her lap until he finally passed out.

This kimono really did suit her, if only she had more excuse to wear it. "It's a pity this stays up here."

"Huh?" Obito grunted, then soon moved up to Kakashi's side. "What was that?"

The pale face under the silver hair darkened. He hadn't realized he'd said that aloud. "I was just thinking, it's too bad there isn't room to hang this up downstairs, right? This is an heirloom, and most kimonos that are heirlooms are displayed and cared for on a rack, not in a box to gather dust and creases."

"I guess," Obito responded. He didn't seem to remember the outfit offhand, and even gave Kakashi an odd glance, but must have figured that it wasn't worth questioning further and went back to the corner he was working on.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Kakashi gingerly replaced the kimono and properly sealed the box. His face still burned oddly, but with success it was ignored as he continued sifting through Rin's belongings. Unfortunately for him, Obito had always disliked long silences, especially when others were around, and he had to open his big mouth.

"Hey, why do you suppose Rin kissed us both before she left?"

A curse was muttered. The thick white mask muffled it so that it didn't catch Obito's ear.

"Do you think she meant anything by it?" he continued.

"It was just a kiss on the cheek," the grumble was a little angrier than Kakashi had meant, but the mask seemed to be very good at soaking up any emotions that are best to be hidden. "Mother's kiss their children all the time. Sisters kiss their brothers and cousins on the cheek sometimes. It's no surprise, is it?"

"I suppose not. I guess we sort of are a family, aren't we?" Obito, on the other hand, was always horrible at hiding his emotions to the point he need not try. Kakashi was easily able to detect a myriad of complex feelings underneath that rhetorical question. This made Obito a target for Kakashi often, especially when they were younger, and it came from Obito's long crush on Rin. The behavior was just touchy enough for him to start up a fight, which had been all that was important to Kakashi. After all, it was funny seeing Obito act like a stereotype boy in a stereotype crush, turning quiet and nervous around Rin when they were younger, and getting fixated even now to the point he was distracted by her.

Kakashi never went through that phase. If he had, and if he, say, liked Rin, wouldn't he have felt jealous during the time the two of them were actually dating? But he didn't, not even a twinge of jealousy. Wouldn't he have been jumping for joy when they stopped dating? He did no such thing, and was far too busy with his own problems to even really care. Even if the two were to date now, he wouldn't be jealous one little bit, he was sure. Kakashi didn't even know what jealousy felt like.

Unless, of course, that feeling of anger and dread he'd gotten when Rin had suddenly (jokingly) announced during dinner once that she was dating a ninja from the clinic was jealousy. Both he and Obito ruined their chopsticks, so there was no hiding that they felt similarly about the joke. But really, that couldn't be jealousy. It's just natural that he'd feel that way after what the ninja war had done to them. So Rin was a family member, because this strange household was a family, as dysfunctional as it seemed sometimes.

"Hey, quit being so quiet," Obito complained, "It's giving me the creeps."

"And what am I supposed to talk about? This lovely dust and mold that we're busy cleaning up?"

"Man, I don't care what you talk about. Just say something so I know you're still there. This attic isn't the most inviting place in the world, with all this old stuff around, you know."

"Yeah, these things always had a weird vibe to then, even when it was in Rin's old house. You've been there before, when Rin's father was still alive, right?"

"Not often. Just a couple of times, really, and you were there almost every time, too. I… I'm not sure if my mother thought well of her father, even though she liked Rin a lot. Always said something about him being the sort of person my father was."

"Really?" Kakashi was surprised. He'd been in Rin's house several times without Obito around and had only assumed he'd been around there more often as well. Even when Rin needed to move out, Kakashi was the one she called upon, since Obito was working that day.

_Strange,_ Kakashi thought, _that Obito would date Rin, but I would be the one to spend the most time with her._

"Woah, a family album. Is this Rin's, too, or—"Obito stopped suddenly with a snort.

"What is it?"

"Aww, you were such an adorable baby, Hatake-san," the simpering reply came.

In an instant, Kakashi launched himself over and whammed a fist down on Obito's skull. "_I_ grew out of it!"

"Real mature!" Fistsfull of Kakashi's silver hair were already in Obito's hand as he said this, so it was tit-for-tat by this point. Both of them only knew kicking and punching blindly in the thick cloud of dust for the next while, and neither even noticed that they'd through the course of it tumbled down into the level beneath them. They didn't even notice Rin standing there until she hit them with a broom.

Both heads shot up, wide-eyed, still within the other's headlock/grapple on the floor, to the half-smiling girl, now putting the broom aside. As they worked themselves out of their tangle, they rambled on their explanations of what they were doing, why they looked so dirty, and the favor they were doing for her, choked up with several "welcome home!"s. Even so, it took them record time to get from Obito bringing up the idea to the fight up to the point they were found, which was a pity since the two speeches ran into each other to the point they were both incoherent.

Rin didn't seem to mind. When they finished their story, they found she was giggling. "Those things you guys have on your faces really suit you."


	8. Rotten

Disclaimer: Chapters ones. To stress a point made in said disclaimer_: profanity and drinking_. Yeah, lots of that this time.

Yes, yes, yes, I've been reading Heinlein again. I know you can tell. It's what I do at work between talking to crazy vendors at work. Leave me alone!  
x eli-M.x: I'm quite proud of that image, myself. Thank you. And I suppose you're right about the rice balls. Still though, I can't help but wonder. –laughs-  
Kray Torishi: Thar be Mandelorians. Thanks for the compliments, and I like long reviews. You're very perceptive, and I don't mind the questions, but I try to keep from making spoilers to my stories in my author notes (which answering most of those would amount to). Luckily, many of your questions are actually going to be addressed this very chapter!

* * *

Obito tried to be happy with Rin's rather unexpected return, and with her delight in the chore he and Kakashi took upon themselves for her. She lightheartedly accused them of snooping, but she helped them finish up their handiwork, allowing Kakashi to sooner limp off and crash in his bed from how he'd worn himself with his pacing and fretting during her absence. However, even when he was alone with Rin—no, _especially_ when he was alone with her—he noticed that she had an odd air about her that he couldn't place. She seemed strangely sad, maybe worried, but he couldn't really place it. It wasn't substantial enough to really ask about… he couldn't really form a question.

So, he tried asking a different question that had been gnawing on his mind. "Say, Rin…" he began, still drying his hair with a towel from the bath he just took. He was feeling very energetic suddenly, and the bath made him further invigorated.

"…Hmm? Yes, Obito?"

"Why did you…erm…" The question began quickly and confidently enough, but by the time it came to the actual subject of the matter, he started to falter. Geez, even after all these years, he can't shake off that old shyness around her sometimes! He gave a cough and tried again, with determination. "Why did you kiss us before you left?"

She blinked a moment, as if not remembering the incident, and then a grin spread across her face. "Oh! Why, Obito, it's because _I love you guys!_"

Obito's heart thwapped up into his gullet and landed right back in his chest where it belonged in a split-second. "You, uh, _love_ us?"

"That's what I said," she confirmed with a giggle.

"_Both_ of us?"

"Can I not love you both?"

Obito's tongue started to tie itself up the more he tried to work it in his mouth. Obito could only conclude that she loved them as friends and family but not as lovers, since otherwise just couldn't translate in Obito's mind. But he couldn't get his damned mouth to work properly and confirm on it, so the conversation steered away towards her control, and by the time Obito had tongue, mind, and will to continue the original subject, Rin was making herself busy with something else. He'd lost his chance.

So, he sought the other housemate's advice on the matter, going straight into said housemate's room. "Kakashi!"

There was some sort of incomprehensible muttering that came from the covers, and the white tufts of hair that stuck out from under them shifted around a bit.

"Oi! Kakashi!"

"Hrrmphh… G' 'way, 'Bito. Irm slreefin'."

Obito snatched the covers away from Kakashi. "Oi! Wake up!"

Kakashi bolted up, half asleep, and stared without recognition at Obito.

"Now that you're up…"

With no expression on his face, Kakashi literally tore the covers out of Obito's hands with a loud _rrrip!_ and rolled over on the bed. Obito was left with a swatch of fabric and some thread. Short of a fire caused by an earthquake, there was no way he was going to be conscious today.

"Fine, be that way," Obito grunted, very aware that Kakashi did not hear him. He stomped out and was left to brood for the rest of the day. Things continued much the same way for the next few days, and with Rin going back to work, as well as Kakashi having to drag himself out of bed to attend to business matters only, he had no outlet for his questions. He hated that the only way he'd get to see Rin in the morning was a brief glance at breakfast, hated that he was alone when he came back from the restaurant for so long, hated that he ended up being the only person still awake at night, after everyone else went to bed. He felt terribly lonely, and had far too much energy to just sit around the house, alone.

He started going to the training grounds again, and was now occasionally training with the ninja from Rin's clinic. Sure, they weren't exactly aloof, but there was a new air about them that he didn't gather when he'd met with any of them before. Their politeness was odd; they used the sort of words that people used to construct walls between them. There was a weird looming sadness about them, similar to what he sensed with Rin, but it didn't seem as directed towards him, even though he still felt it was connected to him somehow. In any case, he found that he'd feel uncomfortable to stay in the training grounds for more than a few hours a day.

This was a give-and-take situation. If he stayed out late, he was able to come home and go to bed sooner, but had to deal with this uncomfortable feeling. If he came home and didn't stay out, he stayed up longer at night and felt himself to be terribly alone. Damnit, when was Kakashi going to start crawling out of bed for something other than his business?!

On Friday, he found that he really just wanted to go out and do something with his housemates after work, he didn't really care what. But, of course, the house was silent when he reached the minka. He groused a little to himself and stormed upstairs to pull Kakashi out of bed. Kakashi wasn't there, which meant he had to have still been out doing things for his business today. Great. Perfect. Well, nothing he could do except to start up dinner and wait for Rin.

Rin came in a little late, which made things difficult for Obito to keep the meal warm for when she arrived, but he accepted it without complaint. Kakashi's continued absence, however, he did complain about, since there was a third portion of food that was just going to waste simply because his great _Hatake-sama_ couldn't be bothered to send a message or anything to tell them he'd be late.

"Obito," Rin started after he'd finished his tirade, "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Huh?" Obito looked up from his dish, his eyes curious. "Uh, well, there are a lot of things, but… I don't know how to phrase it really. You've been acting odd lately, and so have those ninja that I'd meet when training."

Rin's eyes turned a little sad. "Is that so?"

"Yeah… have any idea why that is?"

Her eyes fell some, and she pushed around her food with her chopsticks. "Well, something happened at Konohagakure while I was there. It was a pretty major event; a lot of people were killed. Everyone at work has been at least a little affected by it. Don't worry, though; it doesn't have anything to do with us, since it's a ninja thing."

"Doesn't it? Those ninja… and you… you all seem to get a little sad when I'm around. You don't seem sad around Kakashi, and you seem worse when he's not around and it's just the two of us."

Rin grew silent, stopped poking at her meal, but still did not raise her eyes. Those eyes started welling with tears before they ran down her face and off into her plate.

"Rin? Rin, what's wrong?" Obito stood with a napkin and came beside her, offering it to her and resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What happened? Were you hurt when this happened?"

She shook her head and sniffed, but didn't sob, and pushed the napkin away. "No, I'm fine. I'm just sad is all. There were some good people who died. A sweet man, for one. It was very unfortunate what happened, and I guess it was unavoidable." She wiped away the tears with her own hand and looked up at Obito with a smile. "Please, sit back down. Let's talk about something else. Was there something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

Obito nodded, concern still making fine lines around his eyes, but he returned to his seat.

Rin made another sniff, but she leaned forward on the table, still smiling. "What is it? Is it about that kiss again?"

"Uh no." Obito blushed at the memory despite himself, and scratched at the rising heat in his cheeks absentmindedly. "I mean, I don't really understand what you meant by that you love us, I guess, but that's probably just something I have to figure out on my own. I want to know, uhm… when you came back from your trip. The first thing you said to us… You said, 'Those things on your faces really fit you," or something like that."

She giggled at the memory and nodded.

"What did you mean by it?"

"Well, haven't you ever noticed that when Kakashi is upset about something, he frowns a lot?"

"Well, sure. A lot of people frown when their upset, right?"

She laughed. "Not like Kakashi does. It's usually the strongest indicator on his face that something's wrong. When he frowns, it's noticeable. He knows that, so he tries to hide the lower half of his face when he's upset." She put a hand before her face. "He'll cover it up by looking down so that it'll be hidden by his collar when he walks, or look away, or hide it with his hands and pretend like he's actually thinking about something instead. Oh, his nose crinkles, too, which is why his frowns are so noticeable. It's actually pretty funny."

"And me?"

"Well, you're always conscerned about someone talking about you crying when you get upset, especially Kakashi since he teases you on it so much. When you cry or get upset, you try to hide it your eyes with your bangs or something like that. Once, I saw you put on sunglasses to hide your eyes, saying that the sun was hurting them."

Obito frowned at that. He remembered that incident, and had hoped he pulled it off.

"So when I saw that mask and those goggles on your guys' faces, I couldn't help but think that they suited you. And that's how I can tell when you two are upset, usually. Kakashi tries to hide his face, and you try to hide your eyes." She giggled again. "You guys act like I figure these things out through some mystical ability to read people's emotions."

"It does seem that way to us," Obito responded dumbly. He didn't know what else to say, because how she interpreted them still felt like magic sometimes. Even the likes of that cold bastard Kakashi would be put in awe over it. "I guess you're just more perceptive about those things than we are."

"Oh, you two pick up on it subconsciously all the time. I bet you just don't realize it."

"I guess not."

Unfortunately, before Obito could bring up the possibility of going out and doing something—maybe watch a movie or something—with Rin and perhaps take her mind off of things, she announced that she had to go to retire early tonight, since she was going to work tomorrow (Damn! He'd forgotten that she works on Saturdays, too!), and she went up to her room with a book in her hand, intending to read before she went to bed.

Obito was left fidgety and lonely, not wanting to go out alone, or to go to the training grounds and have to talk to those mourning shinobi about what he'd just discussed with Rin. Where the hell was Kakashi, anyway? It got later and later as Obito half-heartedly looked about the house for something to do, picking up books and magazines he'd meant to read and tossing them aside a few minutes later, looking over the movies they had to watch again and again and never picking one to put in. He convinced himself to take a bath and came back out to a still very silent house. "I'm acting like Kakashi was with all the fretting."

The front door squeaked open, and some unsteady footsteps came in a few feet. There was a grumble and some thumps, followed by the sound of a pair of shoes being thrown aside in the front hall before Kakashi finally stumbled into view. He was wearing a nice black suit, the jacket of which being carried under his arm, the tie loose and his white shirt unbuttoned on the top.

"And where the hell have you been?" Obito's voice had more curiosity than anger in it. "There isn't any dinner for you. I split your portion up between Rin and me, since I could never get kenchinjiru to reheat right."

"That's fine. I ate out." Kakashi's voice was a little muted, like his tongue was swollen.

"Why are you dressed like that, anyway? Go to a party?"

He nodded. "Opened up the business in full today, and my new employees threw a big party."

"What! Why didn't you tell us?! We'd have loved to come! Hell, I'd love to have gone out and did something!"

"Sorry," Kakashi mumbled and walked further into the mainroom, throwing his jacket aside and falling back onto the couch. "I was afraid if I told you guys, that Rin would wear that golden kimono."

Obito came down closer to his friend. "Kakashi, are you drunk?"

Kakashi made some vague gesture with his hand. "There was a lot of sake around. It was a pretty energetic party. Hideo-san was there. He was laughin' the whole time, you know. Haven't seen him so happy in a long time."

"What did you mean you were afraid Rin would wear a golden kimono? What does that mean?"

"Don't you remember? That beautiful silk kimono, with the dragons. She wore it at a wedding. It belonged to her mother. I showed it to you the other day, when we were cleaning the attic, and you looked at me like I was retarded."

"Oh right. Yeah, I remember that kimono, now. She did wear it at Yoko's and Daiki's wedding, didn't she? I didn't know she inherited it from her mother, though. But why be afraid of her wearing it. Weren't you saying it's a pity that it stays up there?"

"That kimono really suits her," was all that Kakashi offered. A moment later, he shook his head with a disgusted look, as if trying to will away an image that disagreed with him. "Why weren't _you_ worried about her when she sent that message, huh? _You_ were always the one that had a crush on her. _You_ dated her. I just came over to her house a lot."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Her father died on such a trip, remember? When his return got delayed. And she's been acting weird ever since she got back. Especially around you." Kakashi made another face, as if he was queasy, and looked down.

"I asked her about that. She… said that something big happened in Konohagakure while she was there. A lot of people died."

Kakashi looked up at Obito with this, his eyes wide. "What? Oh god, is she okay?"

"I guess she is but… she was crying when I asked her about it. She didn't want to talk about it any more, though."

Kakashi didn't seem satisfied by this. He stood up and walked away a little bit, looked back at Obito, proclaimed a loud curse, and started to pace, rubbing his forehead. "Why the hell didn't you ask about it more?! When was the last time you actually saw Rin cry, huh?"

"She asked me to drop it!" Obito's voice rose, himself along with it. "I didn't want to upset her any more than she already was!"

"You don't care that she might have met somebody in Konoha? Remember when she 'joked' about dating a ninja before? Think she might have been hinting something? Think that whoever he was could have rejected her or cheated on her or might've died?"

Obito's mind clicked a moment to the "sweet man" that Rin had mentioned, but he disregarded it. "What are you insinuating, Kakashi?"

"She's been moody whenever you enter the room, you know!" Kakashi returned, looking straight at Obito again with fiery eyes. "Whenever you stroll in, it's like a fucking cloud forms over her head. You dated her, before, you know, so you could be reminding her about this guy. And you're satisfied with 'something big happened, and a lot of people died'? What the hell kind of friend are you?! Or are you too caught up with wanting to fuck her?!"

With that, Obito punched him square on the jaw. "Fuck you! Why should I listen to a selfish prick like you insult me!"

Kakashi was thrown back some with the force of that punch, and it hardened into him how serious the motion was. Eyes still blazing, he threw one right back at Obito, and didn't stop with the one. A very fierce fight erupted, one that drew blood, and Kakashi being drunk didn't make his hits any less painful. This was different from the bickering and scuffles they had before, where they were at most trying to beat the other up; they were trying to kill each other.

Obito was thrown into the table near the door at some point—the one holding Rin's sword scabbard—and the table broke under him. Kakashi took this moment to scream back at him. "Your not at all aware of what's happening, you shit-eating simpleton. Rin could be in danger of being taken away by ninja, like she nearly was when the village was attacked, and you're not even fucking paying attention!"

There was some blood running down Obito's chin. He reached up and checked it, to see that he was actually bleeding. "What the hell are you talking about? You throw me into a fucking table and start talking about what happened eight fucking years ago?! Just how much did you fucking drink?!" He was answered with a kick under the jaw, so he returned with a flying grapple and managed to pin Kakashi to the ground as he punched him.

Kakashi's hand found a piece of table, so he slammed it on Obito's head to get him off of him. "It could've happened a hundred years ago and it'd still be the same! That ninja was going to kill her, Obito! He thought she was a ninja, too! Maybe that could have been what happened to her father! Maybe that's what nearly happened to her in Konoha!" He hit him with the piece of wood again, and then again. Obito managed to grab it before it could hit a fourth time and knee Kakashi in the gut.

"Shut up! Stop talking like it's my fault that something happened! I'm not a fucking ninja!"

"But you don't give a damn about it! You don't care!"

"Of course I care! I care a shit load more than you do!"

"This fucking house could fall apart at the seams like it has been since late-summer and you'd have your head up your ass the whole time!"

"I'm not the one who went to party alone! I'm not the one who came home drunk!"

"And I'm not the one that's about to have his face implanted into a wall!"

"**STOP IT!**"

That last shriek came from Rin, who'd been roused by their crashes and yelling and came down, thinking that she was just going to be breaking up a normal fight. She found them, instead, in a very serious battle, both of them now more than just bruised, but cut and bleeding. There were several broken things strewn among them. She had been frozen at the stairs for a good while, only able to watch them, and just now screamed with all her fear, anger, and authority.

It worked. They froze as if the scene was a still frame, and looked up at their friend. She was sobbing loudly, shaking.

Obito dropped the piece of table in his hand and approached Rin immediately. Kakashi crumbled to the floor like a puppet released of its strings. Rin continued to sob, and when Obito came up and tried to lay a consoling hand on her, she swatted it away angrily and continued to cry. He recoiled.

A few moments later, she choked out, "Go sit at the couch."

"What?" Obito honestly couldn't hear her.

"GO SIT AT THE FUCKING COUCH!"

Obito scrambled to it, feeling that he'd never been as frightened as he was now. Rin never raised her voice _like that_ before. Kakashi followed, half-crawling on the floor still and looking miserable. Rin eventually came down and sat in the chair adjacent to the couch. But after she sat down, she started to sob again, crying into her hands. Obito looked to Kakashi beside him. Kakashi was crying, too, and pitifully crying at that. A queasy feeling came to his stomach. This might have been the first time that he was the only one of the three _not_ crying. He didn't like it.

Rin calmed down and started talking. "At Konoha… there was a massacre while I was there. The entire Uchiha clan had been slaughtered by one of their own, Uchiha Itachi, before he ran from the village. Only a young boy of them was spared, but none of the others—old men and women, even the Itachi's own parents—survived. I was… sort of close to many of them, to the family. They were very angry people, and… ah… it couldn't be avoided. One especially was Uchiha Tamotsu, and he reminds me so much of you, Obito. He asked a lot about our village every time I came through Konoha before. He was very sweet… but he was also angry. I saw the Uchiha compound afterwards… and I saw him and everyone else. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, Rin," Obito mumbled. His eyes were strangely dry, but he still felt sick.

She sniffed loudly. "I… I mean I'm sorry for not telling you. You both worried about me, and worried about what happened, and I didn't say a thing. I was afraid you'd worry more if I told you. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm sorry I had to raise my voice like that at you. I didn't mean it. I really didn't."

Kakashi doubled over and was now sobbing into his own knees. Obito looked away, feeling like he was going to throw up.

Rin stood and came to kneel beside Kakashi, rubbing a hand down his back. "It's all right, Kakashi."

"I'm an idiot," he sobbed.

"No, you're not. You're just drunk and emotional. It's okay."

"No it's not. I nearly killed Obito. No it's not. I tried to kill him. _It's not_. "

Obito stood up quickly and ran to the bathroom to vomit. Shortly afterwards, Rin carried Kakashi in so he could do the same. Then she cleaned them both up, tended to their wounds, and sent them to bed. The next morning, despite what had happened the night, she had still gone to work. Obito was alone in the house for a long while, so he cleaned up the place a bit. When Kakashi finally woke up, he didn't remember anything that had happened the night before. He didn't even remember coming home. His last memory had something to do with a karaoke mic thrust into one hand and a bottle thrust in the other.

"At the moment I'm just glad I woke up in my bed and not a gutter, despite of all the bruises and bandages. But I'm sorry I didn't invite you guys. Was that what we got into a fight over?" He said, looking where the table had previously occupied and on its contents strewn on the floor.

"You could say that. We broke the table that was over there. I had to throw it away."

"Did we? And we don't have a spare upstairs, right?"

"Not that I remember, no." Obito saw Kakashi get his coat and go for the door. "Where are you going?"

"To buy a new one. Rin's scabbard can't stay on the floor like that."

* * *

Kenchinjiru – A Japanese clear soup with lots of vegetables and tofu in it. Very light, and since there's vegetables involved, I'd think it'd be more delicate to reheating than miso, which can be stored and reheated pretty easily. (I honestly know little about cooking, outside of what I've had to force myself to learn by being a bachelorette, and even less about Japanese cuisine, so I could be wrong.)  
Aha! I'm on a roll! I've already started writing the next chapter! Fun, fun!  
If any of you have studied Japanese or Japanese culture, you'd know that a lot of the polite language they use are the sort that put "barriers" up, and can be very unwelcoming and cold. It might sound like a cruel aspect of Japan, but it's necessary, considering how many people must live and interact in such a small area. (It's not exactly particular to Japanese, either; consider the sort of politeness people have who only have to talk to you because its their job to do so.)


	9. Blame

Disclaimer: Chapter one.

I should try to make you guys laugh with this chapter, seeing as the last one was so intense. –looks at how I've started it- Yeah, that isn't going to happen, sorry. I'm very glad that Rin came across strong and not out of character in the last chapter; I was a bit worried people would see it otherwise.  
Kray Torishi: My, you are insightful! You should feel proud of your instincts, hey? Yeah, Kakashi doesn't have anything to say for himself with that chapter, and he's not going to let himself get away with it, either.

_

* * *

Rin was walking through the Uchiha compound, alone. Well, she wasn't entirely alone; all the Uchiha were here, really, just dead. All of them were slumped or laying on the ground, and blood was aplenty. It was dark, of course. They were killed at night._

_She stopped beside a particular corpse. Uchiha Tamotsu stirred and turned around where he lay. He smiled warmly despite the gaping hole in his chest. "Ah! Rin-san! How have you been! It's been a year, hasn't it?" he said casually._

_"Yes, it has been, Tamotsu-san. I'm well, how are you? Does that hurt?"_

_"Oh, no. It hurt for a little while, but after you die, you feel hardly anything. Do you have a moment?"_

_Rin nodded and knelt beside him. He sat up and smiled wider._

_"How is that son of mine doing? Is he still a cook?"_

_"Yes, he is. And he's doing very well. He's so energetic, like Tamotsu-san."_

_"I'm too old to be energetic."_

_"Now, still moving and talking even though being dead? I'd say that's pretty energetic."_

_Tamotsu hummed in thought. "I suppose you're right about that. You should marry him. Or are you going to marry that Hatake?"_

_"They don't know."_

_"Why don't you tell them?"_

_"Because I can't. I'm not a girl. I can't be embarrassed or clumsy or delicate. And they can't know."_

_"You're a very lovely girl, Rin-san."_

_"But they can't know. You were very angry, Tamotsu-san."_

_"I was. Not anymore. You can't afford to be angry in death, you know."_

_Rin nodded in understanding. "That's very true. But with how angry you were, this was inevitable."_

_"Yes, that's true. But how do you know that?"_

_"Grandmother."_

_"Ah, right. Your grandmother knew, so your father knew, so you know. Ne?"_

_"Exactly. But no one else knows. I can't tell them. I can't tell them anything. I wish I could."_

_"Tell nobody." A third voice said, deep. Rin turned and saw her father standing there. She rose._

_"I haven't, Tou-san. I did as you said."_

_"Your friends won't understand. Tell nobody. Tell them nothing."_

_She laid her head on her father's breast and hugged him. "But it's very cruel. It's bitter, it tastes bitter. Lies are bitter."_

_"Good medicine is bitter," said an elderly woman's voice. Rin was now embracing her grandmother where her father had been standing. She began to cry into her properly-folded kimono. The old woman rubbed her back. "Just swallow and bear it."_

_Tamotsu gave a death-scream, despite that he'd already been killed so he shouldn't have to. Rin's head whipped around and she saw a silhouette in the distance. She stared hard and saw that the silhouette had a face. It was young and pale…red eyes…deep lines underneath._

.-.-.-.

She screamed and bolted up, throwing by instinct the first thing she could get her hand on. With a loud _thwack!,_ there was now a pair of metal scissors deeply imbedded into her bedroom door, right between the eyes had someone been standing there. She stared, blinking at it for a little while after her hand fell, not really understanding how it got there for a while. Her skin was clammy. She wiped her forehead and sighed, then shook her head. _What a weird dream_.

Soon there came a knock. "Rin?" a male voice came, "Are you okay?"

She pulled herself from her warm covers and approached the door, pulled the scissors out of the door with a grunt. Then she opened the door and smiled. "I'm fine, Kakashi."

"I heard you shout. Did you have a nightmare?"

"I suppose I did. I'm fine now. It's good that nobody was around when I had it, though. I could have hurt them."

"Well, as long as you're all right. I'm going to get a glass of water, then. Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?"

"No, I'm fine. Goodnight, Kakashi."

"Goodnight."

She closed the door, ran her fingers over the new hole she'd made, and returned to her bed. She mused, as she fell asleep again, that the door did not feel the hole, since the tree it was made from was already dead, and that gave her comfort.

.-.-.-.

When Rin exited the clinic, feeling tired and winded, wearing muscles on her frame that seemed on fire with the acid coursing through them from all the work they were forced to do, she was actually very glad for the cold, the heavy snow, and that she had neglected to bring her long coat. Without the thick shield of fabric and padding, the thick fall of large, white flakes of powder and piercing, frozen wind were allowed to onslaught on her bare legs and arms, chipping away the unnecessary excess of heat she felt while still unable to cut through her natural armor of worked flesh. Her blood was really flowing, now, and she felt invigorated, despite that she was physically tired and that her lungs were struggling to get oxygen from the cold air. She was strong and alive.

She came home to an eerily quiet minka, not hearing or smelling Obito cooking in the kitchen as usual. With a shrug, she brushed off the white on her shoulders and head and slipped out of her shoes before bouncing through the living room and throwing herself on the couch. Maybe it was a good thing that Obito wasn't cooking; tonight seemed like a good time to take the boys out, anyway. She had the day off tomorrow, and staying up late to unwind sounded like a splendid idea.

A few hours were spent lounging around luxuriously about the minka alone, and although she wanted to talk to Obito and Kakashi, she was rather well enjoying the time alone. She walked about as she pleased, washed, relaxed in the tub, did her nails, brushed her hair, and went freely through the minka in only a loose, short bathrobe, which would have struck the boys dead if they _were _present. More than once, she would trot through her own room to get a bottle or a sponge, and each time she would eye her door, thinking of the hole she put in it the other night.

It bugged her enough to force her downstairs, where the box containing the budget for house repairs was. It was a cigar box—where the cigars had gone was long forgotton—and the light, mustard-colored top opened easily with her touch. She peered in and pulled out the bills and coins, and counted.

And she counted again.

The third time, she blinked, dropped the currency, and shook her head in disbelief. How was it that there was _too much_ _money_!? Obito didn't get a raise, and neither did she. Kakashi was starting to get profits from his business, but she had figured that it couldn't have been enough to start contributing to the budgets again.

Well, no sense in messing with the money if someone was overpaying into it. The sound of her shutting the box coincided with the sound of the front door opening. "Hey Rin!" Obito's voice came, "Put on something nice! Kakashi's going to take us out to make up for being a jerk and leaving us out of his party!"

Rin tightened her robe and came out, seeing them both in nice suits. Kakashi's looked brand new, a navy blue so dark that it was almost black, and a manila yellow shirt and tie underneath. Just what kind of place was Kakashi going to treat them to?

Kakashi looked away, looking slightly embarrassed and annoyed. "I was out to get new suit since my other one was ruined from that fight the other night. Obito insisted on coming since the moron claims I have no sense of style."

"You'd just get another boring old black-and-white thing."

"So? At least black and white is multipurpose! This thing is loud with its colors, don't you think, Rin?"

Rin smiled. "Not really. I think it looks pretty muted. Might not be appropriate for a funeral, but anything else would be fine. And it does look good on you. Obito has a good eye."

Obito huffed with cocky satisfaction. Kakashi looked sideways at him and mentioned something about Obito having a _flair_ for cooking and clothes, which erased that satisfaction immediately. When she started up, Obito yelled something up to her.

"Why don't you wear that golden kimono!"

She looked back at them. It took her a second to realize what he was talking about. "Are you sure? A traditional kimono like that might look odd next to your suits. Wouldn't an evening gown or something like that be better?"

Obito grinned up at her. "Kakashi said when we were cleaning up the attic that Rin doesn't wear it enough. Right?"

"I didn't say those words exactly."

She giggled. "I understand. It will take me a little bit to get ready, alright?"

"Aw, just hurry up and go upstairs, will ya?" Obito whined. "That robe of yours is short and we're trying our best to not look up it by accident."

Kakashi turned red in a split second and he punched Obito in the arm. "Don't say such stupid things and let her get dressed!"

.-.-.

_The next nightmare she had and remembered was worse. At least, this time, Rin was aware that she was dreaming._

_The house that Obito had lived in before the war had long been demolished, and yet Rin felt she should visit, anyway. She felt that she should visit Obito's mother and tell her about what happened._

_The house appeared as it did after the invasion; half-collapsed and charred in places. The front door and its frame was still in a part that stood, which was good since if it weren't there, she wouldn't have anywhere to knock. She rapped on the door three times, making a stark, hollow sound in the otherwise dead-quiet scenery around her. It wasn't day or night; it was gray._

_The door opened with an exaggerated creak, grating the ears in the still silence. And there was Obito's mother, looking clean, dressed in her white robes in which she was cremated. Her dead eyes recognized Rin, and she smiled, stepping aside. "Come in, dear. Come in."_

_Rin bowed and accepted the invitation, stepping into the ruined house and allowing herself to be lead to the sitting room. The sitting room was gone, a wall and a half taken out of it, and its floor was littered with planks, wooden beams, and various other debris. Obito's mother wiped away some black soot from the ground and invited Rin to sit. The black soot on her hand was a stark contrast to the white… until she shook the hand once. The black could not hold and fell away instantly and floated back to the ground._

_"Tamotsu-san is dead," Rin said calmly._

_"Is he, now?"_

_"All of the Uchiha are dead. You don't sound terribly surprised. Or… anything, really. Do you still hold a grudge against him?"_

_"Oh dear, no. You can't hold grudges when you're dead, especially when you're a woman. It changes you, makes you into something else, and I have no wish to be a hannya. The dead can't afford to be angry."_

_Rin giggled. "Tamotsu-san said the same thing. I'm glad to hear that you've forgiven him."_

_"Perhaps I'll go see him after I talk with you."_

_"I'm sure he'd like that." Rin looked around at the devastation, at the gray surroundings that the walls opened up to. "I'm very sorry about your own death, though."_

_"Oh, no, don't be."_

_"Aren't you angry at me at all? Don't you feel some grudge?"_

_"No, no dear. You were very young at the time. You couldn't be expected to do everything alone and without difficulty or flaw. Your father was gone to Konohagakure, right? And then he died when that chakra monster attacked. If there must be blame, put it to war itself, ne?"_

_"You do not blame me?"_

_"Of course I don't blame you."_

"**I DO.**"

_An apparition appeared about 8 centimeters from Rin's left shoulder… that of Kakashi's aunt. Her skin was patched, her frame gangly like a starved, hairless monkey. She was dressed in the hospital gown she'd died in, her nails long, yellow, and cracked, her long, silver hair dulled to the same gray of the sky and frayed out like a wild mane. The air of dead wrongness and unfulfilled heart about her was a stark contrast to Obito's mother and her funeral purity, her completeness, but she did not smell as rotten as she looked; she smelled like Kakashi, which disturbed Rin more. Most horrifying was her face: long, yellow teeth, grown thick and turned like tusks; elongated chin and harsh cheekbones, making her face look gaunt and sullen, making it seem horns were peeking out from her grey mane; worst of all, eyes set deep and dark like a skull, with bright, harsh light of swollen vengeance, and heavy brows that weighed down upon them, painting the sorrow and torture that she felt._

_"I suffered and wasted away because of you! If you had never come here! If you had never been born! If your father wasn't trying to protect you! If you! You! YOU!"_

_Rin shrieked at the sight and scattered away, straight into a fallen support beam. Soot and dirt got all over her and clung to her, so her hands and legs had gotten filthy from the short distance she scrambled. The youkai approached after her and loomed over, her hands out like claws. Rin screamed again. The youkai's hands grabbed into her shoulders and shook her, screaming back. Rin searched her pockets for something—anything!—that she could use, but came empty. How were her pockets empty? Her hands fumbled through the debris, getting even filthier, until she touched a kunai that a ninja must have left. She didn't put any mind to who the ninja could have been. She stabbed the monster in the leg in a desperate move. The thing hissed in pain, the coppery, warm smell of blood spilled from it, but it didn't let go. It dug its hands deeper into her shoulders and pulled Rin up, up, up into the air, shaking her more and screaming in her face, like it was trying to wake her._

.-.-.

Wake up, Rin!

.-.-.

Her eyes popped open. Although it had been a dream, and she even knew it, she had felt so trapped and entangled that she couldn't work herself out of it before. The hands on her shoulders, shaking her, holding her up from her bed, belonged to Kakashi. He looked at her with a worried, pained face, covered with sweat. Her room was still dark—he had not turned on the lights—and the only light coming in was from his own room down the hall.

"You're awake," he said with relief and let go. "You were having a terrible nightmare, it seems. You kept screaming. Did that massacre in Konoha really affect you so badly?"

Rin brought a shaking hand up to wipe her face. She was sweating, too. "It brought up some unfortunate memories." She sniffed to reassure herself that Kakashi smelled like Kakashi, to make reality give more impression than the dream. Perhaps she smelled him in the dream. But that coppery smell of blood still lingered strongly, and she frowned. She looked down and reached out, trying to search in the darkness for the source, hoping that she wasn't still stuck in the dream. Kakashi recoiled some as she did, which she couldn't blame him considering that her hands were running on his legs and most likely made him feel uncomfortable. She was about to apologize for freaking him out when her hand knocked against something in his leg, and he winced. She squinted and saw one of her pencils embedded in his thigh.

She gasped. "Oh my god. Kakashi, I'm so sorry!" She leaned over and touched carefully around the wound, examining the damage. "Oh no, I must have hurt you while I was asleep."

"It's nothing," Kakashi spoke slowly, as to not let any pain creep into his voice. He was doing a very good job of it, actually.

"'_Nothing?!_'" she echoed in disbelief, not looking up, "This isn't '_nothing'_, Kakashi! I _stabbed_ you in the _leg_ with a pencil! This is absolutely serious what I've done!"

"You've been having terrible dreams every night since you'd come back. You don't always scream, but I've heard you whimper and mumble and toss around." He shook his head. "I don't blame you for fighting back in your dream. I should have just been more careful when trying to wake you up."

Tears threatened to her eyes. She shut them and shook her head furiously. No! There was no reason for her to show tears now! Eyes cleared, she tried examining further. The pencil was in deep and even though it was lodged in pretty well, blood was still leaking out at a pretty bad rate. She had certainly pierced a vein at the least, most likely had hit the profunda femoris artery.

"Stay here, don't move, and take deep breaths," Rin ordered and got up, speedily stripped off her bedclothes and threw on the first pair of pants and shirt she encountered, not bothering with underwear, and ran to the bathroom. She washed her hands, snatched out a medical kit from under the sink, and came briskly back in to kneel beside Kakashi. A couple of cuts with scissors and one rip removed his already ruined pants leg from around where she needed to work. This work in binding and putting pressure around the pencil to reduce the bleeding was quick and harsh, as she tugged the bandages and pulled them without time to think of Kakashi's comfort. She considered a tourniquet, and disregarded it as quickly as she thought of it.

She raised some to be beside him and put an arm under his. "At three, I want you to stand up with me, okay?"

"Where are we going?"

"The clinic, of course! You're going to need medical jutsu to heal this quickly and properly, which I couldn't supply, right?"

"It could wait to tomorrow. Its not so bad that I can't walk myself."

"No and no! I will _not_ have you waiting for treatment to an artery, and I will _not_ have you walking on an injured leg! Just do as I say. Put absolutely no weight on that leg, all on me or your other leg. Now, one… two… three!"

When they got down stairs, she stopped to get Kakashi's coat, although he kept insisting that he didn't need it, that the cold didn't bother him. She paid him no mind and gave it to him anyway, then put on her own since she had the feeling he would insist the same to her. Then she placed her arm under his again, lifted him up, and they set out.

One long hobble (that should have been a short walk) and a procedure with the medic-nin's later, Rin was sitting beside the hospital bed Kakashi reclined in. Morning light was finally sifting through the window. It had been a long night. She was staring at where she had wounded him, although a thin blanket was covering him, to keep him warm. He was staring at her.

"Does it hurt?" Rin asked unnecessarily. She already knew that they were pumping pain medication into him, and she knew how much of it at that. He most likely couldn't feel his face.

He shook his head. A few moments of silence took place, then he reached out and took one of her hands from her lap into his own. "I'm fine, Rin. You shouldn't blame yourself for it. You weren't even conscious, and it's just a stab to the thigh."

"No, that's no excuse. Before, I had thrown a pair of scissors into the door because of a dream. If someone had been standing there, they would be dead, and I would be the cause."

"Rin, Obito told me about that massacre, said that you told us when I was drunk. I don't remember anything about that night, but I saw all that was broken, how badly ruined my old suit was with the rips and blood, how Obito had just as many bandages as I did when we woke up. Obito said he threw the first punch like always, but… I must have said something pretty terrible to set him off, to make us nearly kill each other. That fight wouldn't have been so serious if it was only about not inviting you guys to that party."

Rin looked up at him. "Kakashi… it wasn't like that…"

"Yes it was. I might not remember anything, but I saw the aftermath. I've been afraid to fight or even spar since, haven't touched any alcohol outside of when I took you guys out, and that's only because you guys ordered it. But Rin, I had no excuse. You saw the result of a slaughter for an entire clan of elite ninja, right? And you even knew some of them. There was one special to you, right? Tamotsu wasn't it?"

She smiled and made a small laugh at the misunderstanding. "Tamotsu-san was old enough to be my father, not to mention he carried a torch for a woman he regretted he didn't marry. He wouldn't admit it, though, that he was carrying a torch for her, I mean. She died a while back, during the war. I hope they could see each other in the afterlife now."

"Oh, I see. Still, the two of you were close."

"Yes, we were. Kakashi, why didn't you invite us to the party?"

He heaved a great sigh. "I don't know. I only regret that I didn't. The others sort of surprised me with the party after work, and we were all already dressed up since Hideo-san 'suggested' that we all come the first day like that, although they were all plotting the entire time. The party went full-swing immediately, and I kept thinking I should give you guys a call or something, run down or have someone else go fetch you and bring you back. But every time I thought of it—I just don't know. I had a weird feeling. Then I would take a cup of sake to get rid of the weird feeling. Not inviting you two bugged me the entire night, so ended up having a lot of cups of sake."

Rin reached up with her free hand and moved some strands of hair from his face. "It sounds like Kakashi-san is having trouble taking the seasons changing, ne? The snow is heavy on the roof and makes it creak, but you keep forgetting that the high tilt is designed to make the snow just fall off. Then every time it does fall, you turn around with a start. Isn't that right?"

"Do you really think it's as simple as that?" Kakashi shook his head. "My father committed suicide, remember? I never figured out why. You don't think I inherited something from him? That I might need professional help?"

"You need no more help than I do, Kakashi. We've lived through a long, hard era. I'm just happy to have people precious to me, people that make me strong and who I want to be strong in turn. It's been a while since I've sparred with you guys, hasn't it? When your leg is fully healed—should only take a couple days—I want to spar with Kakashi and Obito!" She smiled at him sunnily.

"Ah, Rin…"

"You need to keep in shape, right? You want to stay strong, right?"

"Well, yes."

"Then I want you to stay strong, too! When you are strong, I feel strong. We're a team, ne?"

Kakashi went silent again, eyes examining her carefully. His own free hand rose and reached past her hair to the crook of her neck. He leaned forward, kissed her softly and chastely, then leaned back again. The hand dropped, and his eyes widened with realization of what he'd just done. "Uh, I…"

"Don't over-think it," she said and pushed him gently down. She kissed his forehead and stood. "I'm going back to the minka to pick up some things. I'll need to pick up a cane, too, so that you have something to lean on for the next couple of days. I don't want you putting weight on it while it heals. Plus, I need to tell Obito what happened. He'll be worried. Do you want me to pick up anything specific?"

"I'm fine." His voice was hesitant to answer. "But… will you tell Obito about… well…"

"Do you want me to?"

"No!" He wasn't at all hesitant there.

"Then I won't. Just rest, Kakashi. I'll be back soon."

When she left the clinic, it was snowing again, and the white was blinding in the morning sun. She squinted and huddled in her coat, but felt very satisfied with herself. A few years ago if Kakashi had done that, even while she dated Obito, she might have fainted from how quickly the blood would have rushed to her head. She hadn't gotten weaker at all. If anything, she was stronger than ever, and she wouldn't have to blame her own weakness anymore.

* * *

Tou-san – Father.  
Hannya – A sort of Japanese demon that is said to have been a woman who had a hard life and feels vengeance or jealousy in death (very popular subject in Noh plays, so there are a lot of hannya Noh masks).  
Remember, kids; reviews are like vitamin supplements to a writer's healthy diet!


	10. Green

Disclaimer: ChapteR onE.

The people who are watching my other stories are getting so angry. Well, maybe not angry, but they wants their non-Naruto favorites to update. I've already got some things set up for the chapter after this one, but I might put updating a different fic over higher priority. Anyway, humor to make up for the intensity. Huzzah!  
Kray Torishi: You continue to have a good grasp of what's going on. It's awesome when readers get so involved!  
So Happily Unsatisfied: Yay! And also: your request is granted.

* * *

"Don't over-think it." That phrase was possibly the best piece of advice anyone could have given Kakashi at that moment. He took it to heart, like a Buddhist might take Zen, and instantly he was lighter. He might have attributed the feeling to the pain medication before, but as it wore off, he saw that the calmness had completely settled in him. He felt like he did before the seasons started changing. Like it was late-summer again. He felt…to put it as simple as it was… _happy_.

Various medic-nin buzzed through the room they kept him in, making sure he was comfortable and accommodated. Strangely enough, he no longer felt any sort of hesitance or animosity for them. A couple had even started up a card game with him, to help pass the time before he'd get discharged. He found himself grateful for the company, and talked casually with them. They explained that the clinic was a little busier today than usual, not because of any influx of patients, but because a ninja cell from Konoha were supposed to be coming in today for a mission and several of them were excited to talk to someone from home.

"Oi, look at that, huh? The great Kakashi is in bed like an invalid. And no one is surprised." Obito greeted as he entered, carrying a cardboard box.

"Yo, Obito. Come into the clinic to get a paper cut healed? What's all that you're carrying?"

The medic-nin that was sitting with him smiled at how well the two got along. "I should be getting back to work. Rin-san said that she'd come in during her break."

Obito watch the shinobi leave and turned back to Kakashi. "They call her Rin-_san_ here? Even though she isn't a ninja?"

"I'm glad that they show her respect, despite differences. Anyway, don't change the subject. What's in the box?"

"Your books from the attic that you haven't touched since we all moved in. Rin suggested that I bring something for you to read, and since you're going to be in here for a while—"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I'll be out of here by the end of the day."

"Well then, you could at least take the time to sort through this junk, right?" He dropped it on the table beside the bed, and the table shook from the instant, heavy weight. Kakashi stared at the box for a while, then up at Obito again.

"Obito, how much did Rin tell you about what happened?"

"Huh? She told me everything—and was still a little upset over it, too! I can't believe she's been having nightmares and I haven't heard them." Obito frowned. "I didn't hear a thing that happened last night, and was confused this morning until Rin came and explained everything. She said you weren't mad at her, though."

"Of course I'm not mad. It was a fluke, not at all her fault. If I had been more careful in waking her, I might have at least dodged it, right?"

Obito looked unconvinced, which seemed odd to Kakashi since he spoke truthfully. "What is it? Did Rin tell you anything else?"

"Huh? No, I guess not. Was she supposed to have?"

"Err… no." A pause. "Can I ask you something, Obito? It's a little personal."

Obito raised a brow, looking more suspiciously at Kakashi than ever. "That never stopped you from asking questions before, but okay."

"When you were dating Rin, what did you do?"

Obito's eyes went wide and he turned red in record time. "W-wh-what do you mean by that?! Your head must be muddled with pain medication to be asking me that sort of stuff!"

"The medication wore off a while ago," he answered, twitching a little with the reminder of the pain his leg was still in. "You don't really have to answer the question if you don't want to."

Obito looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs. "Uhh, well… we did the sort of things that boyfriends and girlfriends do, I guess."

"'Things that boyfriends and girlfriends do', huh?"

"Not like that! I mean, like going places to eat, celebrating the New Year together, things like that." Then he added, as an annoyed afterthought, "…hardly got to second base."

"Hn." Not one small bit of jealousy reared in Kakashi. He considered asking Obito what he would have felt about what happened this morning, but decided it was best to just drop the whole thing and not worry. "Well, good to know your expectations weren't brought too high before she shot you down."

Obito clicked on in anger. "At least I had a girlfriend for a while! I bet you never even kissed a girl!"

"I still have a hard time believing _you_ had any experience in that."

"Agh! It's a mystery how a guy like you ever came to run a business!"

"I don't want to talk to you about it," Kakashi said, "Anyway, let me see that box."

Pulling parcel after parcel out, he found that these were, indeed, his books. They looked more than disorganized, and had been allowed a lot of room to be thrown around, so corners were bent and a few covers had even ripped. He vaguely remembered when he packed it years ago; he threw everything he hand into boxes without much care, and when he got tired of unpacking after getting out everything he wanted and needed immediately, he threw the remaining couple of boxes he had upstairs. It wasn't like he had much to himself after his father and aunt died; much of their belongings got sifted around to other inheritances. Most of these books he'd forgotten about, being books he'd read in his youth. Some were ones that could be found lying around the house without an owner, so Kakashi had merely assumed they belonged to his aunt and picked up anyway.

He pulled up the most damaged one and wrinkled his nose. It was missing part of its cover, several pages had been folded, a few weren't connected to the spine anymore and were in danger of falling out, and it showed evidence of water damage. It gave off a muted, musty odor of old ammonia, which told him that his aunt's "Hime-chan" must've gotten to it (man, he hated that stupid cat of hers) before he threw it in the box years ago.

He was about to toss it, but Obito noticed something about it. "Hey, that looks like handwriting. Is that a journal?"

A glace at one of the pages attempting to escape from the book alerted this to Kakashi as well. He opened it and looked over it. "You're right, it is a journal." The handwriting was familiar; simple, precise strokes, oddly elegant, although reduced to pure chicken-scratch by the end of a page, as if the writer was subconsciously trying to fit in all the letters despite the graph lines printed in the journal pages for guiding. This had belonged to his father.

Looking up at Obito from the book, he shut it and placed it carefully back into the box. "I'll look over it later, maybe after I leave it outside a few days to get rid of that stench." He wasn't about to read such a thing in front of Obito that was for sure!

There was a lot more rustling around and general noise coming from the front of the clinic. New voices were wafting through, including one particularly boisterous one that was immediately reprimanded by the medical staff for being far too loud in a health facility. Kakashi and Obito went quiet, watching the door.

"What is going on?" Obito said peevishly.

"The others said that some ninja from Konoha were coming in today. I bet that's what the commotion is for."

Rin entered as she had promised to visit Kakashi anon, and three men wearing the standard leaf hitai-ate entered behind her, dressed in clothes that Kakashi would expect more of soldiers than the medic-nin in the clinic tended to favor. One of the ninja, however, was particularly odd; his hitai-ate was around his waist instead of on his forehead, and he just plain looked _weird_ with his bowl haircut, impossibly thick eyebrows, and creepily long lashes.

She looked back at them, feigning annoyance. "Hey, I didn't ask you guys to follow me everywhere I go. I'm just coming in to check on my friend."

"That's perfectly all right, Rin-taichou!" the weird one responded with energy, "It's admirable that you care so deeply for your patients!"

"You were already scolded for being too loud in the clinic once," the ninja with a senbon hanging from his mouth growled, "Maybe you could settle down for once."

"What can you expect from Gai, eh?" The bearded one shrugged, smiling. "Is this the guy you were talking about, Rin-taichou? The one that got stabbed in the leg?"

Rin made a sheepish laugh. "You don't need to call me that, you know. Rin-san will do in the clinic. And yes, this is Kakashi, and beside him is Obito. They are my two closest friends. You guys, this is Maito Gai, Shiranui Genma, and Sarutobi Asuma." She pointed when referring to the one mentioned. "These ninja are in our village for just a little while on a mission. I hope you don't mind if they seem to be following me around like lost puppies at the moment; I'm the only one in the clinic from the town, so they have to deal with me."

Kakashi shrugged. "Good day to the three of you."

"Ehhh," Gai approached closer and looked over Kakashi. "Amazing. Rin-san said that you were stabbed in the leg just this morning, but you look fine already."

"It's no big deal. It's only a wound to the leg. Nothing serious."

"Wha!?" The weird man recoiled some. "Such cool resolve, and he's not even undergone ninja training against pain? What power youth holds!"

Obito sniggered and tried to keep himself from laughing. Kakashi didn't really understand what Gai meant, so he chose to ignore it and look to the others.

"Don't mind Gai. He's just this way," Asuma said, "In any case, we're here for a standard procedure, to make sure this town is in good straights with protection since it is still on a supply route. Most likely, nothing serious will happen, but we need to know things about the place that only someone from here would know, to make sure that we can properly keep up security. So your lovely Rin-san is going to show us around."

Kakashi felt irked for some reason, but he didn't let it show. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Right, Obito?"

"Huh?" Obito looked over at Kakashi, "Oh, right."

Gai took Rin's hands into his own. "There is nothing to fear! I will do my best to keep you safe! Ah, how rare it is to find such an exquisitely beautiful flower such as you blooming in this part of a country."

Rin gave a nervous laugh. Obito looked as though he wasn't sure if he should be angry or weirded out.

Kakashi felt… even more irked. "I hope you don't get too distracted by her that you can't do your mission." His voice was still calm, but he was rather surprised that he said something so... jaundiced. Especially to this guy, who seemed as harmless as he was strange, but was most likely quite powerful.

Gai considered Kakashi a moment. "Ah! He talks to us in such a cool way." He seemed almost offended by how Kakashi acted, but at the same time overflowed with respect for his demeanor. "He shows such youth and strength that goes past being ninja or non-ninja… commendable! Consider me, then, to be your eternal rival! Let us fight to see which one of us is worthy of Rin-san's love!"

"…" Kakashi tilted his head. "…? …What?"

The green monster got slapped from behind. Rin smiled at him when he turned around to see why she'd just hit him and said, "Gai-san, you really shouldn't be upsetting the patients at the clinic, hmm?"

Gai blushed and looked down. "Heheh, sorry, Rin-san. You are right." He looked back at Kakashi with a wide, white smile that one would expect to be accompanied with a sparkle, and gave a thumbs-up. "We will talk about this later."

"…?" Kakashi still didn't understand what the hell was going on.

"How about we go ahead and leave, huh?" Asuma broke in. "I'd like to have a cigarette before we go running around town."

"That sounds good," Rin agreed. "You guys go ahead and wait for me outside the clinic and I'll meet up with you. Understood?"

"Understood, Rin-san," they responded in military tone, and disappeared in three puffs of smoke.

She giggled to herself in their wake, and then looked at her friends. "I'm really quite sorry about that, but they are reliable shinobi and good men. Asuma and Gai are jounin, and Genma is a chuunin, though I think Genma-san is in the running to become a tokubetsu jounin. This is an atypical mission with high priority that they're on, so Konoha needed to send people with experience."

Kakashi gave a hum and covered his mouth as if in thought, but his nose crinkled a little much and Rin picked up on it. "What's wrong, Kakashi?"

_Damnit_. His hand dropped. "I don't know. I'm sure you'll be fine, and I'm sure that they're good ninja, but…" He shook his head. "I just don't trust the whole thing. Or I don't trust them. I can't really describe it." He hoped he didn't just set her off by saying that.

Instead of looking angry, however, Rin's face looked sad. Kakashi rathered she would've been pissed off instead. "So you still don't think you can trust ninja, huh?"

"It's not like that!" Kakashi yelled defensively. "At least, I don't _think_ it is. I wish I could describe it."

"Riii~n," Obito whined, "I hope this doesn't mean you'll be taking more time out of the week for work while they're here. You're not home enough as it is."

"No, I'll be taking time out from my work in the clinic instead. Oh! I just remembered something I've been wanting to talk to you guys about, and since you're both here at the clinic, now is the perfect time!" She smiled broadly. "Would you guys like to learn some jutsu from Zenisoku-kun? He keeps commenting that you both control your chakra very well and thinks you could really benefit from some minor training with him."

Their eyes went round on her.

"Are you serious?" Obito asked.

She nodded. "If you want, that is. It will just be some simple jutsu for the most part, nothing really strenuous."

"But… this isn't against some Konoha law to do that? I mean, to train people that aren't of the hidden village?"

"He's not giving you _village secrets_ or anything like that; he'd just be teaching you things that kids from the academy can do, and they don't even always become ninja. He's confident that you two have plenty of chakra and control to pick up the basics pretty quick."

"But we don't even know what chakra _is_, Rin!" Obito persisted, "We thought it was some sort of nickname ninja used for describing punches! How could we have plenty of it and be able to control it if we don't even _know_ about it?"

"You learned how subconsciously, I imagine," she said simply. "Anyway, I want you two to think on it. And I still want to spar with you both after Kakashi heals up, whether or not you decide to learn anything from Zenisoku-kun." She looked out the window. "I should probably go and meet those three in the front. Kakashi, I see your drip is out. I'll tell the others before I leave, so someone should come in, take care of that, and perform some more healing on you. After that, you'll be observed for probably an hour and then discharged. Okay?"

"Sounds fine."

"Good. Now, Obito, I'm counting on you to not try to pick a fight in Kakashi while here, okay?"

Obito grinned. "No promises."

She smiled and waved before she left.

.-.-.

The shinobi that came in was Zenisoku, so his first question, after all the obligatory "how does this feel when" inquiries of a doctor, was the same one Rin had asked. They both surprised themselves and agreed to it, so after he finished the final healing on Kakashi's leg, he explained immediately chakra control, showed them hand seals, and detailed the henge no jutsu since it wouldn't be strenuous to Kakashi in his current state. Kakashi's quick mind absorbed the information immediately. Obito required having things explained a couple different ways before he understood, but, as Zenisoku thought, he seemed to have a knack for it.

Obito asked at one point if Zenisoku had taught any of these things to Rin. The medic-nin gave a face impossible to be interpreted and said that he hadn't.

Zenisoku did the paperwork and discharged Kakashi himself after that first lesson he'd given them. Kakashi got up carefully; his leg felt fine now, but it still felt oddly weak and very uncomfortable when weight was placed on it. He threw on the coat Rin forced him to bring and picked up the cane she'd supplied him. "Obito, pick up the books."

Obito's eyes narrowed. "That box is heavy, and I already carried it all the way here from the attic at the minka! You do it!"

Kakashi smiled at him. "But Rin told me I have to use a cane, and I can't carry that box with one hand and a wounded leg. _Right, Obito-kun?_"

"You are such a prick!" Nevertheless, Obito stomped over to the box and lifted it. Still bickering, the two of them left.

By this time, the sun was dipping to the west, giving off the bright, yellow light between tree boughs and off glass windows as it tended to do before twilight. The snow on the sidewalks and streets had mostly been trampled away by this point, although much was still on the grass, trees, and buildings, looking very much like white frosting. Kakashi tested out some of the ground in front of him with the cane Rin had supplied him earlier. It was not slick.

"You look even more like an old man," Obito chuckled. Before Kakashi could respond, he looked in a different direction, sensing someone coming down the otherwise deserted road. "Hey, look. There's Rin and those three ninja."

Either they didn't notice Obito and Kakashi, or they were in too much of a hurry. Rin ran into the clinic and the other three dispersed as flickers again. A few moments later, Asuma reappeared with a curse, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.

Kakashi knotted his brows. This was rather unusual behavior, to say the least. "Hello again, Asuma-san."

Asuma looked up from his cigarette and put away his lighter. "Oh, Rin-taichou's friends. Just get discharged?"

"I did. Is there something up, Asuma-san?" Kakashi said carefully. "You seem displeased."

The ninja frowned and blew some smoke. "It's nothing big, I'm just annoyed is all. This town doesn't have the defenses that it should; some ANBU bureaucratic shinobi must have figured that what it had was good enough. It makes the mission a little difficult."

Obito huffed and put down the box. "You sure don't make it _sound_ like anything small."

Genma appeared in short order. "I found white grout on the airduct to the building, just as Rin-taichou said there would be. Is she still searching the clinic?"

"Yeah, and I wouldn't bug her while she's doing it. Rin-taichou might be a sweet, pretty thing, but she's like a mother hawk when she's in there. Lets just wait for her and Gai to come back."

Kakashi felt a little vexed again… Odd since he agreed with what Asuma just said completely.

Genma finally had the presence of mind to address the other two men standing there, watching their conversation. "Hey there. We're just going to keep Rin-taichou a little longer today." He gave an amused grin. "By the way, good luck about the whole 'eternal rival' thing with Gai. He was always a bit eccentric, but I never expected him to feel the need to compete with you. Maybe a taijutsu specialist, or even a ninjutsu one to prove a point, but not a civilian he'd just met in a town clinic."

"…? Uh, right…" Kakashi almost wanted to mention that he was pretty good at fighting and just started learning about jutsu. But that Gai seemed the type of person to explode out of nowhere and challenge him to a fight if he said a word, and Kakashi wanted to just go back home. "I don't really understand it, but I guess it doesn't bother me. Anyway, I'll see you later." He turned and started walking towards the house.

"Huh?" Obito blinked. "Geez, always running off like that!" He stooped and picked up the box, then ran to catch up to Kakashi. It wasn't hard since Kakashi wasn't walking particularly fast.

A second later, Kakashi heard Genma's voice say, "Man, I almost wish I was so lucky as to live with a girl like Rin-taichou, eh? Getting a nice look of her back every morning when she leaves for work in that clinic outfit? That's more than enough to make a guy wake up early."

Asuma chuckled. "Can't argue with you there. The way she walks is nothing less than… well. Let's just say she's probably the best part about this mission."

"Urk!" Kakashi stopped full in his tracks like a wanted man who just spied a hunter-nin.

Obito, apparently, didn't hear Genma or Asuma's remarks, drowned out by the sound of books banging around from his running. "Leg hurt?" he assumed.

"I'm fine." Kakashi responded—curt and cold—and resumed walking with a much brisker step. The cane clicked the road a little harder than before. Those two ninja might be nice guys in general, but if they did one thing to Rin that might hurt her, all the jounin-level jutsu in the world wouldn't save them from this silver-haired young man.

* * *

Taichou – "Captain".  
A second ago, I had the unexplained urge to sing the Kraken's theme. Now I want to sing Thriller. Think of this as further insight into how crazy the person who writes this story really is.


	11. The Will of Fire

Disclaimer: Chapter one does cocaine.

I've updated this story despite that I reeeeaaally need to be working on the others. Well, those readers might be annoyed, but they can wait a little longer. This chapter is longer than usual, but Obito has a lot think about and Kakashi still demands his goddamned time!  
Kray Torishi: Poor Kakashi be a virgin in such matters. Actually, you've raised a question that one of the characters in the story is presently wondering… (I was almost tempted to give a spoiler because of it, but... naah. You'll see it soon enough.)

* * *

"Obito-kun!"

The young man looked up at Masa-san's rather round wife. She gave an amused, crooked grin, eyes showing a combination of concern and laughter, a feature most prevalent to her. "You're jumpy today. Nearly bashed back into a pot of mollusks when that egg dish spat oil at you."

He gave a slight, embarrassed laugh. "I don't really know what's wrong with me. I kind of feel like I'm about to take an important test."

"Oh? No idea where that could come from?" She sat down on the nearest chair, eyes trained on Obito. He sighed. The woman loved gossip, and she had an unearthly scent for discovering them, like a pig to truffles. And she wasn't going to stop digging until she got to what she wanted.

"Well… Kakashi and I have been studying jutsu from a ninja at the clinic…"

Her smile split wide for the juicy information. "Have you, now!"

"Err, yes, but we can't do much yet. But the thing is… well… we'll be sparring with Rin today. I think she'll expect us to use what we learned, and I don't think we could. Also, Kakashi's just plain better at it than me."

"Oh? And how is Rin-chan? Is she still doing well?"

"She's doing fine." Obito found his voice was getting quieter. "She saw something during her last trip that I think disturbed her some, but she's gotten over it."

"Has she? Always going on those trips alone… oh, I know you said she went with ninja last time, but I'm not sure how much good it is to run with people that are strangers, hmm? And she's taken with martial arts; I never understood that about her. Sweet thing, but she's too strong for her own good, I say. She needs to remember that she's a girl!"

Obito couldn't really understand how someone could be "too strong for their own good"; it seemed to him that the more power one held, the better prepared they would be for anything that came their way. But he didn't have time to ponder it, for Masa's wife had ordered him to bring in the shipment from the supply truck that just stopped by out back.

When he returned home, he didn't have time to start dinner; Rin wanted to spar with them before the sun fell, and with the equinox quickly approaching, night came earlier and earlier. They walked leisurely to the training grounds together. There were a few ninja there (including Gai; that was difficult not to notice), but the three of them took to a more-or-less abandoned area.

Rin turned like an excited schoolgirl to look at them. "Well, before we start…"

_I knew it._

"…Let me see what Zenisoku-kun has taught you so far. He taught you the, ah, _henge no jutsu_ first, right?"

"Hn." Kakashi nodded. Obito frowned, anxiety washing over him.

"I want to see!" She smiled widely and pointed to herself. "Why don't you turn yourselves into me?"

They were hesitant, but Kakashi went first, and it only took him one try, succinctly going through the hand seals without error and not having any difficulty controlling his chakra. The result, however, wasn't very impressive; the Rin he'd become looked more like a caricature, and he dropped it almost immediately, dissatisfied. Rin, on the other hand, was immeasurably pleased.

Obito took three tries, the first a fluke in chakra control, the second he'd gotten frustrated and did a normal ram seal instead of the required reverse. But his henge was moderately more accurate than Kakashi's and might pass for an actual woman. Rin nodded, looking very satisfied.

"So Kakashi is better at technique in general, but Obito's probably more comfortable with jutsu closer to genjutsu. Makes sense."

"I don't see how." Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets. "A simple guy like Obito being good at illusion and disguise?"

"How a lazy guy like you could already be so good at remembering seals and all that stuff is beyond me," Obito muttered in turn.

During the spar, he hadn't meant to refer at all to what he'd learned from Zenisoku since it was clear that Rin didn't necessarily care if they used their new skills. It was almost by accident that Obito was able to tell what the ninja must have meant by chakra control in combat. He and Kakashi already did have a pretty good grasp of it for augmenting physical combat; they had picked it up somehow during all the sparring the three had. Rin's wasn't so bad either, but with all the ninja that she'd be near daily, it wasn't a surprise.

Obito was, at some point, tripped by Rin, and Kakashi took advantage and pounced on him. Rin, in turn, took advantage of Kakashi's movement and caught him in the stomach mid-launch, causing him to crash into Obito instead of tackling him. Obito scrambled as best as he could, found himself upside-down from how he was before, and swatted at Rin's knee. She crumbled to the side, tried to catch herself, but Kakashi regained his senses and threw his arms around her waist, pulling her down with him. She moved to swing back at him, but Obito was able to jump up and grab her wrists to stop her, and unfortunately was caught in falling with the both of them. Kakashi made a grunt when they hit ground together, at the bottom of the pile, but held tight. Rin swung her arms up and around, forcing Obito into an arm lock.

It was in this position that the three ninja from Konohagakure made themselves noticed. "Wow," Genma chuckled, "you two have all the luck."

Obito now noticed what sort of compromising position the three appeared to be in and flushed hot red, and a glance showed him that Kakashi's face was in a similar state. Rin, on the other hand, was laughing, and she released Obito, letting him propel himself away from her in embarrassment. Kakashi's arms seemed to have gotten suddenly limp, so she pulled herself away easily as she stood. "Hello, boys. Training here, too?"

"Hai, Rin-taichou," Asuma answered promptly, albeit casually as he took a drag from his cigarette. "Have to keep in shape, you know, though our training sessions aren't nearly as fun as what _yours_ appear as."

Obito's face was so hot it hurt, and he wasn't bothering to see if Kakashi looked the same. Rin, however, didn't seem perturbed. "Keeping in shape but still smoking? Well, I won't judge, since I'm sure you've had the lecture. Your father's the same way, with that pipe of his. Since we're stopped, why don't we take a break and talk a little?"

Despite how overconfident they acted, Obito found the past few days that he rather liked talking to the ninja. They shared interesting stories, were actually very friendly, and generally were a lot of fun to be around, like they were always carrying a small party around with them wherever they went. He noticed that Kakashi got along with them just fine as well, and even was able to get used to Gai, ignoring him and putting his silly behavior into the background in the same way he would tune out a over-chipper morning-person coworker (i.e. the office coffee addict). Obito envied that ability; Gai's very presence demanded Obito's unwilling attention and he was unable to look away from his wild gestures and declarations. It was like a train wreck—a train wreck that wore green tights.

Gai jumped forward forthwith, arm out and pointing to the silver-haired man. "Kakashi! So, it's true that you've been studying jutsu!"

Kakashi's shoulders fell the slight way he did when he was exacerbated. "Well… I have…"

He went into stance. "Then let's fight! At this moment!"

Rin rolled her eyes. "I said _break_, I meant _break_. I don't want you or Kakashi wearing out, got it?"

Gai dropped his stance and grinned a dumb, wide grin at Rin, blush on his cheeks. He took her hands into his. "Ah, as the lovely Rin-taichou orders, I will always obey with the strength of youth!"

Rin made a giggle. "That's fine. Ah, your hands are blistered again. Honestly, what are you doing to have this happen so frequently? Walking on them? You need to bandage them if you do this." She led the blushing, thick-browed monster to the side and pulled out a roll of gauze, leaving the other four for a moment.

The other two ninja apparently were commenting to each other on something. Kakashi, who had returned to his usual deadpan state suddenly tensed and his eyes flared at them. He turned to Obito. "You heard that, didn't you?"

This was the only thing that Kakashi seemed to have trouble with in getting along with the ninja. Asuma and Genma would—_supposedly_—say some sort of lewd comment that was always _just out of earshot_ of Obito that Kakashi could _always_ pick up. What was worse, he always became angry with _Obito_ for not being able to hear these remarks. Obito scowled, aware that an argument might arise. "I didn't hear anything!"

"How could you have possibly missed that!" Kakashi hissed.

"Missed what?" Rin was now returning, bandaged Gai in tow.

Kakashi made a growl and turned away from them. "_Nothing_." Genma and Asuma chuckled to each other.

.-.-.

About two weeks later, the three ninja had still not left the town, and were still cutting into Rin's work at the clinic, following her around during the day, asking her questions, and calling her "taichou". They had offered to take the three housemates out to eat this evening, to talk some with Rin about their mission since they're busy with action during the day. They wished to treat them to the new grill on the other side of the town—the one with the full bar—so they would not impose on Obito to cook twice as much. This arrangement, strangely, worked out very well for Obito, for Zenisoku wanted him to come alone for some jutsu training that afternoon, and not having to cook freed his schedule for it.

Zenisoku had asked him to meet him outside by the small dock for the lake instead of at the training grounds or near the clinic where they usually had lessons. As Obito approached, Zenisoku caught sight of him and smiled, waving him over. Obito complied.

"I didn't ask you why you wanted me and not Kakashi to come before," he said, "I suppose it's because I'm not learning these things as fast as he is."

"Not at all. Your progress has been substantial. You have a real talent for this. Besides, you shouldn't compare yourself with someone like Kakashi." Zenisoku's grin turned crookedly sheepish, his brows lowered in vexed amusement. "It frightens me to imagine what kind of ninja Kakashi'd be if he'd had ninja training from the beginning."

"So why only ask me, then?"

The medic-nin crossed his arms and looked down at the weatherworn planks that made up the small dock. "I suppose Rin-san did not explain this, but… Why do you suppose she asked me to teach you jutsu?"

Obito blinked. "The way she explained it, _you_ were the one that asked to teach _us_."

He nodded. "It could be interpreted that way, because of the conversation we had. But she was the one who brought up the subject to me and she brought it up with me for a reason. Truth is, there are… other ninja in this town that I believe would be much more suited for teaching you. However, she asked me for a specific reason. You see, I'm a fire type."

Obito looked at him dully. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Zenisoku caught this. "In other words, you could say I have an affinity for ninjutsu that are fire-based in element. There are five elements—fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning—and people are usually more attuned towards one over others. She wanted me to teach you because she wanted you, _specifically_, to learn a fire-based ninjutsu, and I'm the only one in the clinic that can perform fire-based jutsu."

"Ehhh? What makes her think I can do it?!"

"She didn't tell me… but I have a hunch. Here, let me show you how to do it." Zenisoku walked to the end of the dock, proceeded to explain the chakra use and gathering points, showed him the hand seals—snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger—faced the water with a deep inhale, and…

"_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!_" A great fireball, as deep in circumference as the height of a tree, sprayed forth from before his mouth over the water, making the surface shimmer a reflection of the dancing orange flames. The entire area had an eerie, warm glow to it before the fire dissipated harmlessly over the ripples.

Obito's mouth hung open. "_Suge~!_ You're really going to teach me _that_?"

"Yep, and I have utmost confidence that you can learn it quickly." He started to explain some things again, encouraging Obito to ask questions for him to answer, showed him the motions again, and gestured for Obito to take the same spot he had on the dock.

Obito approached a little tentatively, but he found he was shivering with excitement. He breathed deeply, trying to keep himself calm, went through the hand seals patiently, inhaled again, and blew. His fireball wasn't nearly as impressive as Zenisoku's, but it was there, undeniably a fireball, big and hot enough to injure or kill a man if it was aimed at one. His chest swelled with the triumph.

"Congratulations, Obito-kun!" Zenisoku clapped a hand down onto his shoulder. "You're now a man!"

Obito's pride dimmed some and he looked at the grinning medic-nin. "And just what do you mean by that? We're about the same age. I might even be a little older!"

"This technique is used as a sort of coming-of-age ceremony among the Uchiha. When an Uchiha can perform it, he's ready to become a man, since they're all proud, fire-type ninja."

"So?"

Zenisoku leaned closer to Obito. "Obito, I've read the reports of this town. I've known about the scandal that Uchiha Tamotsu had with his clan concerning a civilian woman outside of the hidden village. I know that a single mother here had a son that looks remarkably like an Uchiha. I put two and two together, and the 'four' that comes from it tells me that there are _three_ remaining people of Uchiha blood: Itachi, the one who did the massacre; Sasuke, his little brother that had been spared; and the wayward bastard child that everyone either forgot about or chose to not remember…" He stared intently at Obito.

Obito wanted to be offended. He tried to be. But he felt too much shock and confusion from too much of what shouldn't make sense making absolute perfect sense. His mouth hung agape as he tried to think of something to say, sorting through all the times his mother—the mother who raised him alone and with all her love—would angrily or sadly speak the father he never knew, and how the subject of that father's family was taboo. He tried to pull out evidence through this that the man could not have been a ninja from Konohagakure, and certainly couldn't have been an Uchiha, but he was unable to find any.

Zenisoku frowned, regretful. "I'm sorry, I thought you had more of an idea of it, or that Rin-san might have hinted it to you, especially now since Tamotsu and the rest of the Uchiha are dead. I didn't mean to unload something like that onto you without any preparation."

Obito still couldn't find any words, so he resolved to falling back and sitting on the dock. He crossed his legs and stared down at the planks for a long while, Zenisoku patiently waiting nearby. After some minutes had passed, he looked up at the medic-nin. "And Rin knew this whole time?"

"Look, Obito, I could be wrong. I mean, the reports didn't say anything about any citizen here showing up with the Sharingan. I'm sure they would have included it, because a young townie popping up with powerful, red eyes would be the talk of the intelligence departments. You might have never unlocked them, or maybe you're just not an Uchiha in the first place."

"No…" Obito shook his head. "I don't know about any 'Sharingan', but this… I think you're right.

"But why would Rin keep this from me?" he continued, "I could understand that from mother, considering what happened, but Rin?"

The ninja looked to the side. "I know Rin-san worries about you a lot. You and Kakashi. And I know that she's… well…" He paused, his green eyes glinting about as if he had to be careful with his words and was searching for guidance. "Rin-san is a very truthful person, but she's secretive about things, too."

"But why _this_?"

"I don't know. Obito, I honestly thought she gave you more of a clue than she has about it, at the very least. It's even possible that she doesn't know for sure, either."

"She said she talked to Uchiha Tamotsu a lot. That he asked her about the town and things like that. I bet he asked about me, too. He _must_ have told her about me."

"I…" Zenisoku stopped before he spoke further and swallowed like a kid would for bitter medicine. "We're done for today, Obito. Perhaps you should go home and rest. Take some time to think."

Obito walked home slowly, thoughtful and calmer than he expected himself to be, watching his own feet walk down the road like Kakashi might. He was creeping himself out with how calm he was until he found himself at the doorstep of his house, where he thankfully felt anger, sadness, and every emotion that could and couldn't be described with words crash through the blood of his veins. He left heat rise up his face and in his eyes, heat that ran up and over his shoulders, making them shake, heat that swelled his lungs and made his diaphragm expand a little hectically as he breathed. He went in blindly, his brain awake with energy but consciously aware of nothing, and he threw himself backwards onto the couch.

He sat there for a long time, looking up at the ceiling, before he noticed that the light that he was staring at was on. A few more seconds, he looked to his left and saw Kakashi had been sitting beside him, most likely was already sitting there on the couch when Obito came in. He was slouched and leaning forward, his eyes a little dull but patient. Obito saw that there was a book in his hand… the journal that they found from the attic.

He didn't look like he was going to make the first word, so Obito spoke first. "I just found out something about my father."

"Yeah?" Kakashi's voice sounded stark to Obito's ears, like it was the first time he spoke. He must not have said a single word when Obito came in.

"He was that ninja that Rin knew. The one that died recently in that thing that happened in Konoha. Uchiha Tamotsu."

Obito waited, watching Kakashi for his reaction. But his expression did not change straight off; in fact, it seemed frozen. Obito was about to speak again when Kakashi broke up into loud, shrieking laughter. He laughed so hard that he had to put down the journal to hold his sides as he doubled over and fell into the cushions. Obito knew he should have been yelling at Kakashi, but he couldn't help but laugh as well, like the whole thing was some weird joke. When they calmed down, Kakashi pulled himself back up into a sitting position, pulled out the book again, and found a page before handing it to Obito.

"Read that." He pointed at a passage.

_"I admit that the advice my sister has given me to start this journal, to help me deal with my wife's death, has aided my mental stresses immensely. But as the anniversary of the day she went to that mission that took her from me approaches, the words that I write in this journal cuts less and less away from my pain. I'm praised all around me for my strength as a ninja. People have begun to call me 'the White Fang' because of my white chakra tanto. Some have even been comparing me with the Sannin, though I don't believe I'm nearly as talented as they are. But I look down at the baby son my dear wife had left me, and I wonder how he should be, to grow up in such a life. I can't imagine it. I wasn't born in Konoha the same way he was._

_"My brain is wracked with the indecision I feel. A great hand, thin as shadow and black as night, coils around my head when I realize that I must make a decision. Perhaps I am strong, and perhaps I am depended on. It frightens me to think of how depended upon I am, not only by Kakashi, but by my teammates, my village… I've looked up to the Sandaime and the Nidaime before him with the same sort of respectful awe as the others, but now I understand the depth of their protection of Konohagakure. Perhaps I am as strong as ever, but if I don't pull out from this horrid question on my life, would I not become weak?_

_"I've had it. I can't take it any more. I must decide whether I should stay or leave Konoha. To leave the life of a ninja with my son, back to the town where my sister and I grew up, or stay and fight in the wars that without a doubt will come but could need me, that I may very well need in turn. I'll flip a coin, for all I can do is argue with myself on both points. Heads I stay, tails I leave._

_"…_

_"Tails. Strangely, now, I feel some relief. That hand that made my temples throb has fallen away from its hold on me. I just hope this hasn't been the wrong decision."_

Obito puzzled at the text and what it meant. "Uh, Kakashi. This…"

Kakashi chuckled some more to himself. "I wonder if our fathers knew each other."

Obito dropped into a smile. "Maybe they did. But Kakashi… do you think Rin knew about it?"

"Hn? Rin?" Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know, but I'd bet money that she did. She always seems to know."

"I'm sure she knew about my father. Why would she keep this from us? I know she cares about us, but…"

Kakashi's nose crinkled and he chewed his lip some. "Rin has seem distracted since the ninja came. I don't know what it means, but it's hard to get her to talk about some things when she acts like that."

"Distracted…" Obito's eyes widened. "…She acted like this when we…"

"What?"

"When Rin and I were dating, she seemed a little… displaced. Like she was far away. I thought at the time, maybe… that it was because she wanted to date _you_ instead."

"Umm…" Kakashi tensed up to ruler straight, a vast difference from his slouching.

"That wasn't it, or she'd have asked you out afterwards, I think. I never figured out why she acted like that," Obito continued, not paying attention to Kakashi's sudden change in demeanor. "Maybe it has to do with Tamo—I mean, with my father. Since he died, and now there are ninja around, maybe she—"

Kakashi interrupted. "Obito, I kissed Rin."

That couldn't have come more out of the blue if the words were printed on a winged purple elephant wearing a tutu descending at maximum velocity. "Huh?"

The other man smacked himself in the head. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that."

"What do you mean you kissed Rin?"

Kakashi explained what happened at the hospital, when he saw Rin acting so tender and regretful, when she had touched his face and he didn't feel it due to the medication, so he kissed her to feel her lips, which he still could not feel and hardly believed that he did it until afterwards. Then he told her about Rin's advice to him, from then on it was him babbling more or less randomly about how beautiful he'd always found Rin, about the times he went to see her when her father was still alive, about how important she was to him, and only just stopped short of telling Obito things Kakashi felt about her that would have been classified as "too much information".

"Wait, wait, wait," Obito was terribly confused, slightly worried, and a little agitated. What did this have to do with anything, anyway? "This is more than a little sudden, y'know. How is it that you've been wanting her all this time and you _just_ realized it? Hell, _I_ always could tell you felt something for her. What does that mean when I figure it out before you do?"

"I've never been jealous before!" Kakashi growled, "I was never jealous when you were dating Rin, or when you were paying her attention, or vice versa. But those ninja... they make me nervous. I think they know it, too. I think they say those things just out of your earshot to get to me specifically."

Obito almost asked why two ninja would bother conspiring such a thing, but he knew that whenever he found something that irked Kakashi, he milked it. It was just far too fun to break that usually impenetrable attitude of his.

"Um, are you angry?" Kakashi asked seriously; the sudden silence must have worried him. Obito gave him a deer-in-the-headlights look and bit his tongue to keep from laughing at the sincerity.

"Of course I'm not angry. I used to be a bit jealous of you when we were kids 'cause I thought you had a better chance at Rin even though you never went for her. But now... This might sound odd, but if Rin didn't want to be with me, I think I'd be kind of comforted knowing she was with you."

This let Kakashi relax. "Hahah... That's weird. I think I feel the same way about it."

"Err… That makes things weird now, though, doesn't it?" Obito remembered the old fear he had of what would happen to the household if he were to date Rin again, and saw that this situation possibly doubled the trouble and tripled the awkwardness. "Does this mean that we still have to compete for her? I mean, if she chooses one of us, would the refused one have to move out? Or risk being the third-wheel? I can't imagine that we'd… well… _share_. That doesn't seem right for her. Isn't this just going to make things more complicated?"

"Let's not over-think it," Kakashi offered, at last back to his calmer self, "and just be glad that we're in agreement and approve of each other on the matter."

Rin came in shortly, three ninja at her heels, apologizing for taking so long. Kakashi and Obito swooped in and flanked her, looking cheerful and acting amiable to the ninja, but still giving them reproachful glances if they seemed a little too friendly with their Rin.

The behavior did not escape the shinobi. This promised to be a difficult evening.

* * *

Narutopedia (which I reference frequently for names and specifics, especially for things that might appear in the anime instead of the manga—I'm a reader more than a watcher) implies that Sakumo came from an established ninja clan, which we currently have no evidence of. I'm under the impression that Konoha clans are basically 3 types: nobles, like the Hyuuga, who have bloodline limits; soldier/spy clans, like Nara, who don't have those traits but keep techniques within their clan; then the newmen, whose families didn't have ninja until after the village was founded and without the longstanding clan traditions with ninjutsu. From Kakashi's young dislike towards "elite" clans, I think he'd be more of a soldier/spy or even newman clan.**  
Important**: I'm going to try and start updating my writing regularly (in preparation for a web-comic I'm planning). From now on, I'll be uploading a chapter to any one of my stories _once a week_, _every Friday_. So, see you guys next week (depending on the story I update next).


	12. Kunoichi

Disclaimer: Chapter one: Evolution. (James Wong will PAY! PAY!) I don't think there's one multi-chapter story in this account that doesn't have a bar scene.

Hehe, I love how insightful my readers are. Though, on the other hand, it means less surprises in the long run. Ah well, no biggie. This chapter is even longer… about twice as long as the average chapter. Rin had a lot to think about, too, and she also had shit to do. Damn her.  
alexf801: Why thank hyu. Yeah, Obito's having a Sharingan would complicate a lot of things, which is a very big point, and one of the reasons that Zenisoku came to the conclusion concerning the Sharingan that he did.  
Nithiril: I am absolutely flattered whenever someone who doesn't have English as a first language enjoys my writing. Thank you. And I still caught what you meant about "huis clos", so don't worry. You're English is still better than most native speakers and writers. –laughs-

* * *

The grill was the sort you'd expect to find in cities, being run by what most likely had to be a disillusioned chef who tried to make his vision of a restaurant work in a densely populated area, but was trampled out by the competition. It's lighting sacrificed visibility for ambiance, while at the same time making the relatively small building look larger and yet more cozy with the lights suspended above each table. Towards the center was the full bar, which had the neon lights of various alcohol vendors instead of the steady, warm wattage that glowed in the booths. But behind the bar—and this, they obviously weren't aware of before they came here—was a small dance floor. The music being played through the surrounding speakers weren't as loud as one would hear in a bar or a dancing club, but there was certainly more care put into its selection. It was not the random assortment of songs that a radio station the owner might prefer.

Rin giggled softly to herself when she saw Obito and Kakashi balk at the sight of the dance floor. Kakashi was most likely already nervous about the presence of the bar. So she made it perfectly clear that she wanted to eat something, bemoaning that she was hungry and her legs were tired from running around all day, so she wanted to get something into her stomach before she thought of anything else. Relief flooded Obito's face, and Kakashi's didn't seem nearly as pale as before. Asuma and Genma heartily agreed. They had done enough jumping around for the day, and food came first. Gai, on the other hand—well, Rin had learned by this point that there was no leashing The Youthful Beast. She allowed him to run about as he pleased and only reeled him in when it came time to order food.

But the sudden difference in the behavior of her boys did not escape her; they had swiftly made themselves into her escorts, friendly to the three ninja in the same way one might be towards a close friend that you wouldn't trust with your wallet. When they found their table, they took to the seats at either side of her as soon as she so much as touched her own chair. She was tempted, just because of that, to change chairs on them, but figured it was best to indulge them until she puzzled through their conduct. Besides, she couldn't deny that the attention made her feel a little bit better.

The food was delightful, at least to Rin. Obito didn't make a comment on it, despite that she was patiently waiting for him to make some sort of judgment. He would have the most informed opinion and he wasn't the sort of person to keep such opinions to himself. Perhaps he was just too busy in conversation with the others—he at least seemed to be having a good time.

Rin smiled and stood suddenly after she finished the main-course, saying she'd be back in a moment, then went towards the bar. But instead of merely giving the closest waitress her order, she sat right back down on a stool and said, "Oyuwari" in the bartender's direction. He nodded, poured some water from a bottle he kept on a heated plate, then poured in some shochu and handed it to her. She shot it and sat the glass back down.

"Rin-taichou," a low, warm voice came to her from her right. It was Asuma, already pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He took a drag and puffed it back out quickly. "Now I can finally catch you away from your bodyguards."

She smiled at him. "I don't know what got into them today, Asuma-san. What is it that you need?"

"I wanted to talk to you… _away_ from them. It concerns them. Rin-taichou, when your housemates are around… well… for lack of a better word, you start to get distracted. It hasn't really been affecting the work, but…"

"Is that so? I've thought that you should probably be the person actually leading this mission. I've been mostly acting as your tour guide. _You're_ the _Shugonin Junishi_." She chuckled.

"Hey now, I'm done with that. I had a few good years, but I'm back in Konoha. Anyway, don't dodge the subject. I know why you're getting jumpy; things are making it harder and harder for you to keep to your clan's standard. But those guys," he gestured towards the table, where Gai and Genma were very successfully making a diversion against Kakashi and Obito, "are as close to you as family. They're your 'team', more or less, and you're their leader. You've subtly taught them things by sparring with them and knowing just how to sneak in advice without actually spoiling the game for them."

"Heh. You know, when I was thirteen and the war happened, and you said that I was going to be a 'leader', I would have laughed. But then I was stuck alone in a critical supply point when it was attacked. You can't say that I shouldn't grow up a little and have my friends follow."

"That's just it; you _don't_ let them follow, because you don't let them know where you're actually _going_. I could understand that there are some things about your clan that you will not reveal to them, because those things are secret even to teammates. But you what's the point of keeping _everything_ from the fellow ninja on your team?"

Her brows furrowed. "You know about them?"

"I don't remember the White Fang since he left when I was hardly a toddler, but he was described more than once to me, and he didn't bother to change his or his son's name when he left. Well, it's not like he became a wanted man; he just up and quit is all. And as for Obito… well, Zenisoku told me about that."

She sighed. "I knew he figured it out. He's told Obito by now, I'm sure."

"Obito didn't know? Aren't you afraid he'll be angry at you for keeping it from him?" Her face scrunched into pain and she looked like she was going to lay her head down into her arms on the bar, but she killed the feeling and blinked the unpleasantness away. "Rin-taichou?" Asuma pursued.

"I fear it more than anything. Asuma-san, this isn't my place to dump this on you, but I can't let them know about it. I've been having nightmares ever since the massacre of the Uchiha."

"That's not so strange, considering you live with one of the last blood members of the clan."

"But it goes deeper than that! Every nightmare I remember... it gets closer and closer to the real issue. Last night, I dreamt that I came home and no one was there. Kakashi and Obito were gone, and there was no trace of them. I looked all around for hours, then started looking around town. And then I finally found them... they were in an ally, the one they were hiding in before two ninja attacked in the battle. Their backs were turned to me, I approached, called their names, and when they looked back at me... I felt I was going to die just from the pure hate in their eyes. Hate for lying to them for all these years. For betraying them. For keeping things precious to them away. For _taking_ things precious to them away. For letting them get attacked in the first place." She shook her head. "In the end, they stabbed their own throats with kunai. They didn't die, so they stabbed each other, too. Then I woke up, and I took a shower so Kakashi wouldn't hear my sobs."

A smile returned to Asuma, albeit a heartbroken one. "You have been their leader too long. You've got that Mama-Knows-Best mentality, now. Dad has it, too. And hiding your tears and the pains to keep them from worrying… but if they find out you've been hiding tears and pains, they'll worry more."

"I feel horribly guilty, Asuma-san. They mean more to me than anything, and I do think of them as my team, but I can't tell them a thing and I'm in a terrible state because of it. Do you know that Obito and I dated? We didn't get very far because of me. And Kakashi... he kissed me while in the hospital. Do you know how often they fight? I mean _really_ fight? Do you know that they nearly killed each other once during a fight that could have been prevented had I told them about the massacre straight off?"

He rubbed his beard and chewed on his filter a little harder. It didn't seem right for him to try to give her sagely advice when, in all previous times he'd talked to her, she was the one with the wisdom. He had assumed that she had a good reason for all this, and he could definitely see that after so many years of this she'd only be able to continue it until they found out. He decided to change the subject. "Rin-taichou, I also needed to talk to you about the analysis of the white grout. It's inconsistent in areas... more than one. There's almost a pattern made from the inconsistency that someone seems to have tried to blot out, but its still there. It's a common fissure pattern for explosive tags."

"That grout is no more than a year old," Rin answered before he could ask. "But a pattern is in it, blotted out, and filled? Hmm, can't date it I suppose."

"I have no way of actually dating the inconsistency, no. But no more than a year? So before or after the clinic came back into full operation?"

"Before, but it wasn't long before; it had been in development for it. Asuma, if what you say is true..."

"Otherwise, you know what we've found, and I don't need to discuss it with you. You have work off tomorrow, right? I think we could wait to intrude into your work Monday. It doesn't seem so urgent."

"Perhaps not, but I don't like this. There's a weird air about, and I've been sensing eyes. Don't be surprised if I want to go out tomorrow."

"Hai, Rin-taichou."

"We should return to the others. Oh, and there's something I wanted to tell you."

"Yes?"

"Quit teasing Kakashi! I don't hear what you're saying to upset him, but I _do_ hear when he complains to Obito afterwards."

"Hah. No can do, Rin-taichou. The guy is just far too fun to mess with."

.-.-.

The boys continued to hold their most vital positions around Rin when they exited the restaurant, with the three ninja following about them. However, the setup had a different color to it. Obito was laughing to himself, looking quite amused. Kakashi, on the other hand, walked with a defeated step.

Rin sighed. "I'm supposing that this is how you've been getting those blisters on your hands."

Gai tilted his head crookedly up towards Rin and smiled at her as he walked on his hands. "It's not an exercise I've done much before I came here, but Kakashi makes for a tough rival! I've been making up for my losses against him by training!"

She gave a tired laugh. "You are so diligent, Gai-san. Well, what's the tally up to?"

"Nine to eight." He grinned widely. "Even with this loss, I'm still ahead by one!"

Kakashi, on the other hand, did not at all look victorious. The "battle" was a dance contest that Gai forced him into on the dance floor, a battlefield that was won more by Gai's ineptitude at anything involving charisma than any real skill outside of basic rhythm on Kakashi's part. Kakashi's win was Pyrrhic, for it was at the cost of his dignity, the dance being disco of all things. His slouch was worse and he walked as slowly as Rin's pace would allow. Luckily for him, Gai was totally oblivious to the fact his "cool demeanor" had been breached. To the upside-down ninja, Kakashi seemed to be acting cooler than ever.

The ninja bid them a good night before they dispersed, once again as three puffs of smoke. Rin only chuckled and went inside. Obito and Kakashi dropped their guard points as soon as they entered, and it was not long before the two of them finished up their nights and bathed. They stayed up late as they didn't have to worry about work the next morning, but she still found herself up after they retired to their rooms. She turned on the lights, almost intending to go to bed, but moved to sit down on the chair by the couch instead.

She sat alone, in the dark, for quite a while. Thinking.

She thought about when her grandmother died, overwhelmed by an incredible enemy jutsu. The death affected her father so badly; although he was able to accept his mother's death, he was not able to come to terms with the added responsibility that it means for the position of head in the increasingly dwindling clan to shift to himself. He felt the need to move from the town they were allotted… and did so. He almost considered Konohagakure, for Rin's sake, but couldn't bring himself to take the family there. Outside of the yearly trips there, he hated Konoha, as loyal as he was to it.

During the move, the stress of death and change had taken its toll on his wife, Rin's mother. She died in her sleep while they were in a hotel. The funeral was quickly arranged and took place immediately, because he so desperately wanted to get past this chapter of life and certainly didn't want his little girl to be affected. Soon after, they finally settled, and she was introduced to Obito and Kakashi.

Rin's father actually did know Sakumo and Tamotsu, and when he found that their sons were living in such a place, he nudged his daughter towards them, as curious about their development as one should be and ecstatic that there are two boys from certainly prime backgrounds that Rin could grow close to. As time passed, he talked often that he liked the two boys, that Rin should take care of them and stay with them, consider them as her team. He even hinted at their genetics, in terms of what sort of children they could contribute to.

This village came to be listed as protected by her clan, which was an old and once powerful one, so there were few ninja stationed there even though there were only two members left. When the war came, and the time for the yearly trip to the Hokage for a mission approached, Rin's father was forced to make a tough decision. The village could not be left unguarded in such a situation, but the trips were an important part of their obligations. He knew that a mission in this atmosphere would put a ninja straight into the battlefront. Thus, he chose to leave Rin behind—alone—while he set to Konoha.

"My pretty little girl," he had said to her, with a hand at her cheek, cherishing her, "You're becoming a beautiful woman. Do you know how common it is for someone your age to be so talented? Most people can't control their chakra so well, even adults who'd trained their entire lives. I'm confident in leaving the town to you, and I'll return before you miss me. Just remember: tell _no one_."

The attack on the town was such that Rin would never have felt prepared for it, even if she knew about it a year in advance and had plenty of resources. As it was, the thirteen year old had to go about leading a defense at a vital point with little help, with the reinforcements needing several hours to arrive. Since she was with Obito and Kakashi when the attack happened, she had to separate from them so that she could act without hindrance. Throughout, she was nervous and worried, anxiety and paranoia about every movement and situation.

She had succeeded in setting some defense and was stalking the pair of rock ninja that discovered Kakashi and Obito. The fear that had been threatening to seize her and force her to act irrationally finally won over her training and moved her hand, throwing a kunai into the back of one of the enemy. He cried out and spun around. At this moment, she was overwhelmed with the weight of the situation, so she curled up and pretended to hide like a scared girl, a ruse that she knew wouldn't work. Perhaps it wasn't a total ruse; she was scared, all right, but more for Kakashi and Obito than herself. Her stupid action just increased the likelihood of her closest friends getting killed.

Her pretending to be a random townie almost could have fooled the ninja long enough for someone to come, but he came (rightly) to the conclusion that since she was all he found in the area where the kunai must have been thrown, she was his enemy. He would kill her, and, Rin assumed, he would kill or capture her friends next, despite them being civilians. She did not, however, expect those friends to act at all. Kakashi shot forward with precision and speed almost unparalleled, much like how her father described Sakumo's movements, and took advantage of her kunai that the rock ninja neglected to remove. Obito, on the other hand, was even more surprising.

Rin knew they both had ninja blood to them, but always thought to that point that they did not exhibit any tendencies towards being ninja, thinking of them as a nice argument for the nurture side of nature vs. nurture. But here, before her eyes, was the nature. She knew who Kakashi's father was; since his last name was "Hatake", it would have been hard to miss. Obito, on the other hand, she just knew of his father being a ninja. She didn't suspect that his mother's near-tragic story and the scandal concerning Uchiha Tamotsu were one and the same until then. When his black eyes had turned to red, with the most furious look within them, it dawned on her. He met with the other ninja, fists flying, and kept him busy just long enough. The Sharingan fell away before Obito himself was even remotely aware of what was happening, and Kakashi was far too into his own attack to have even glanced at Obito.

The two rock ninja fought back, more than a little surprised by the teenagers' fury, and they did not have any time to regain footing. Reinforcements finally came, and within a minute every enemy ninja was killed or forced to retreat so quickly that it seemed like a blink of an eye to the villagers. Really, it _was_ a blink of an eye; Konoha's own Yellow Flash led the backup. The battlefield was still as the grave. Rin tended to her friends for the rest of the day until she was able to regroup and assess the situation with the others later, in a mostly-ruined stable house.

There weren't as many civilian casualties considering what could have happened, but there's no reasoning with someone who saw death occur while they were leader for the first time, especially when they're as young as Rin was. She wasn't even a jounin, which should have been _required_ to lead such a hold, but there's always a paper-pusher somewhere that's content to leave things as they are instead of fix them. When she met with Namikaze Minato and the men he brought with him to go over the damage, she nearly collapsed and cried into the dirt. Of the villagers that died, she knew many of them. The explosive tag that went off and killed Obito's mother was from a trap that she ordered to be set. The house that collapsed upon Kakashi's aunt and crippled her was one that she had zipped past while searching the area, not thinking to stop to warn her to evacuate the area. In Rin's head, this whole thing was absolutely her fault. Her and her weakness.

Minato turned out to be a very kind and considerate man. He was patient as he worked with the emotional wreck Rin had become from this attack. His voice was friendly and wise beyond years, and his strong arms held her in a very warm and comfortable embrace while she cried and cried about what she perceived as her failure. He rubbed her head as a father might for his daughter—how she missed her father at this moment!—and gave her the most understanding smile that only a man who had seen loved ones die again and again could give. His words etched into her heart, making what most ninja thought of as a useless bauble into a priceless and precious heirloom with his engraving.

"You are strong, Rin-_san_. Maybe too strong for your own good, since the strong can't drop the weight on their shoulders that no one else could bear. You didn't have to try to keep the town. The most skilled ANBU captains I know would have tactically retreated and abandoned the position, simply wishing the best for its citizens. But you chose to keep it, and you kept it strong. You _didn't_ abandon it."

These words made her cry harder, but those tears were necessary tears of catharsis. Even now, eight years later, she gets an almost pleasant pang in her chest and sting in her eyes as she goes over his words. That was the first time she was called Rin-san; even the few ninja stationed to work under her didn't call her that. Those words were exactly the words that she needed to hear at that moment. No hollow "sorry for your loss", no condescending "it was beyond your control" or "you did good—for your age". This was the tone, and these were the words, that an adult used to another adult that was a virtual stranger but in any case felt sympathy for.

Rin grew up a lot that day.

Reorganization and report filing followed as the war ended. Rin discovered that none of the files mentioned anything about Obito's Sharingan. Indeed, the one other ninja who would have seen it, the rock ninja he fought, was killed shortly after Minato arrived. Technically, it was Rin's duty to include the anecdote, and this was perhaps the only duty to Konoha that she actively disobeyed. He didn't show any drive or wish to become a ninja—he had inherited his mother's gained distaste for them, in fact. If his Sharingan were discovered, the family that had otherwise not wanted Obito might have imposed themselves upon him, especially now that his mother was dead. She couldn't even bring herself to tell Tamotsu after she came to know him, despite how friendly he was and otherwise interested in his son's welfare. Luckily, the Sharingan hasn't showed up since.

Her father was delayed in return, as he was far too useful in the war and the subsequent rebuilding to be let back into his usual, passive position. His placement in active duty kept him in Konoha, and when the Kyuubi attacked, he was one of the ninja who had lost their lives. Along with the Yondaime Hokage… Namikaze Minato.

Since then, Kakashi and Obito were the most precious people in her life. Since she knew their ability, she trained them indirectly, by sparring with them and giving subtle advices about how to "focus" one's momentum in their movements. She wanted them to be strong, too, because it made her feel stronger and, at the same time, made her feel like maybe she wasn't alone in holding up that weight.

She was absorbed in her thoughts in the darkness, so much that she almost would have counted that movement to the left near the wall as her eyes playing tricks on her. Her body whirled up from the sitting position to a fighting stance in a smooth motion. She went still, sensed movement again, and chased it. She was able to analyze it, now. Human silhouette, natural flow of body movement.

An intruder!

Rin deftly leapt forward, her fist out. The punch tore through fabric and grazed past the flesh underneath, and that was enough for the intruder. With a flicker, the movement was gone.

Instead of relief, panic seized her. "Obito! Kakashi!" She ran up the stairs, into the hallway of their bedrooms. Kakashi was already exiting his own room, easily roused from Rin's urgent scream.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Are you okay, Kakashi?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just heard you yelling for me. Why did you call out?"

She didn't answer him, instead running to Obito's room and throwing the door open. Despite the loud _WHAM!_ of the door hitting his bedroom wall, Obito was still sprawled out in his bed, muttering in his half-conscious state about Kakashi making so much damn noise.

Rin gave a grateful sigh. "Thank goodness."

"Rin? What's happening?" Kakashi pursued. He looked like someone should after being woken up as he was: tired, confused, and wound-up to the point he was jittery.

"I'm sorry to alarm you the way I did. I saw…" She trailed off.

"You saw…?"

She shook her head. "I saw some sort of bird fly into the minka. Could have been a bat. Could you stay here with Obito while I look for it?"

She ran out before he could answer and quickly surveyed through the house for the intruder, putting up traps as she went. As fast as she did it, she still made it thorough, almost tearing apart some rooms. No matter, since there was no way Kakashi believed the lie she just gave him. When she came back, she told Kakashi he could go back to bed. When he tried to decline, she offered that she must have seen the bird in a dream, because she fell asleep on the chair downstairs, and she hinted that it could have been just another minor nightmare. This was enough.

.-.-.

The remainder of the night until sunrise was long. She called for Asuma to bring Gai and Genma to a meeting place, where told them immediately of what happened, and produced a piece of cloth that had torn off the intruder from the night before. They analyzed together this with some various clues they'd found during their search. There was someone strategically attempting to take over this town, or at least trying to take out the leaf ninja presence, as was suspected. And now that Rin had without a doubt discovered one in her own household, they had to act immediately since the enemy was certainly going to do the same thing.

The enemy pulled out first. There was an explosion further into town as they searched for the scent from the fabric. They found that the western wing of the clinic was severely damaged, but it was still standing for now. Medic-nin were already working to evacuate the patients. Five figures stood on the adjacent building.

They didn't all look quite human at first glance, but that was only due to the strange armor and weapons they had equipped. A few of them had hitai-ate on, of different villages.

"I recognize these men," Genma said through his teeth that gripped the senbon a little stronger than usual, "They're a team of missing-nin that tried to take over a small town in Mizu no Kuni last year. The Mizukage sent his hunter-nin after them and added them to their bingo book, even though only one of them is from Kirigakure."

"That's a little rash. The Mizukage could get in trouble for that behavior with the other villages," Rin commented offhandedly.

Genma shrugged and went into stance. "If he cared about things like that, his own ninja wouldn't try to assassinate him."

"I suppose you're right about that. All right, orders are simple. Neutralize the enemy, and don't let civilians get involved. Leave at least one alive for questioning."

"Hai, Rin-taichou!" They dispersed and jumped to surround the enemy shinobi, bouncing off of surrounding buildings. Meanwhile, Rin gave supervision to the medic-nin that were busy with evacuation, reminding them of points nearby that would do as defensible, temporary hospitals and making suggestions of which ones would be best to bring the patients.

Shortly, Zenisoku appeared. "Rin-san!"

She looked at him from a crippled man she was helping attend to. "What do you have to tell me, Zenisoku-kun? Be quick!"

"I took the liberty of informing Obito and Kakashi of what happened."

"What did they say?"

"Nothing! They weren't at the minka!"

A cold grip closed around her heart. What if that intruder merely waited for Rin to leave at sunrise and captured them? "Find them!" she shrieked, "They're civilians and have nothing to do with this! That's an order!"

No sooner had she said that than did Obito's voice scream, "Look at the clinic! Oh god, RIN! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

She couldn't see them, with all the people in her way, patients, ninja, and panicking bystanders alike. She did, however, spot Kakashi's silver hair in about the same area as Obito's voice came from. Unlike most of the bodies, they seemed to have been coming closer to the clinic rather than away. She cursed. "Zenisoku-kun! Keep them away from here!"

They got to Rin before Zenisoku could reach them, bursting right next to her from the crowd. "Rin? What happened?" Kakashi gasped.

"Go home!" She yelled. "No, no wait—Zenisoku-kun, take them with you to one of the defending points and keep them with the patients! Don't let them out of your sight!" She started to run off in the direction of the now-ensuing battle between the Konoha ninja and the five missing-nin.

"NO!" Obito screamed and grabbed hold of her. "You're coming with us!"

She pulled out of his grasp. "I can't! Just go with Zenisoku! I'll catch up lat—" She was interrupted when Gai had been violently thrown back by two ninja that were on him, straight into the conversation.

Gai managed to land on his feet and propelled himself forward to meet the ninja again. The two men he was fighting, however, moved completely in sync with each other, their harsh, sharp armor twirling as they moved to surround him. This happening right in the middle of an evacuation of civilians… there was no way this was going to end neatly.

"Gai-san!" Rin shouted. Gai couldn't spare more than a glance to Rin before he had to fend off the approach, dodging from one attack and blocking the simultaneous one that tried to come in from behind. She had to do something, so she grabbed one in a grappling hold and pulled him backwards, then took advantage of the shinobi's surprise to regain some leverage in her legs and force him to flip while she pulled back, forcing him to crash down, face-first, to the ground.

The ninja struggled, and she could sense that the other tried to react, but was tied up with Gai. She locked a leg around one of the ninja's own and wedged her other firmly on the ground, to keep him from using his heavier weight to force her back. Now she had to hope that one of her men would get to her before an enemy.

No such luck. One of the missing-nin that Asuma was trying to take care of broke away and leapt down to help his comrade. He already had a kunai out to strike Rin, which was why she was that much more surprised that she didn't get stabbed, but instead was engulfed in a ball of flame.

"_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!_"

Rin stared over her shoulder at the fire source, seeing that it was, indeed, Obito. Her chest swelled with pride, but the feeling was just as quickly squelched by the knowledge that he now made himself part of the battle. The shinobi he'd burned burst out into view, clothes, hair, and skin badly singed but otherwise no worse for wear. Really, he looked angrier than anything.

"There are more shinobi here, just as I thought!" He growled and started doing seals. His attack was interrupted again, however, when a clone of Kakashi caught him from behind and forced him into hand-to-hand combat (the clone proceeded to dodge the attacks, as it was a normal bunshin). The real Kakashi appeared next to Rin just as her prisoner found a weapon and swatted at her to get her off of him. A cut was made in her arm, which stole him enough time to escape and jump back a distance. Kakashi was about to run up to him when Rin grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing! Get out of here! Both of you!"

"We can't just leave you here!" Kakashi shot back, "You're a girl… the girl most important to us! What the hell good are we if we can't protect you?!" He pulled away from her and ran up to fight, his clone still fighting along side Obito while Gai was still busy with another one. But the trained missing-nin wasn't about to let him gain the upper hand on him. He threw explosive tags towards him, which Kakashi was hardly able to dodge from and ended up taking some damage to his legs. This bought the missing-nin time form up seals now, and pulled off a ninjutsu. Lightning shot forward, towards Kakashi.

Secrets be damned! Rin performed a double Kawarimi no Jutsu, replacing Kakashi with a piece of nearby building debris and put herself between Kakashi and the missing-nin. She went into stance, her back to her friend.

Kakashi sounded confused about what had just happened. "Rin? Rin, what are you doing there?"

"I'm sorry, you two. But I'm not a girl."

"Huh? What do you mean? Rin?"

She pulled out a kunai from a secret pocket and concentrated her chakra. Her eyes were locked on her enemy, if only because she was afraid to look at her friends. She spoke clearly, so that they could both hear it over the sounds of battle.

"_I am a kunoichi._"

She burst forward with the chakra that she concentrated in her legs, the kunai out and ready to hit mark in her opponent. He pulled out some shuriken and threw them, but she disappeared with a flicked before him, then reappeared to his left, throwing several kunai. He avoided them, but one had an explosive tag itself, and his dodge amounted to nothing when it set off right as it zipped past him. He made a cry and threw himself to the side, away from it.

"Rin-taichou!" Gai called, just as he drove his own opponent into unconsciousness with a blow.

"I'm fine!" She yelled. "Help Obito!"

By this time, the illusionary bunshin Kakashi had made had been discarded, so Obito was doing his fighting alone. Gai did as he was ordered and was able to catch one of the missing-nin's flying punches, since he had, by fighting his partner, figured out his fighting style enough to neutralize it. He pulled him backwards with a violent spin and threw him to the ground in a pain-hold on the arm, breaking it with the sheer momentum and force he used.

"All taken care of, Rin-taichou!" Gai smiled up to her with a thumbs-up.

Rin nodded and performed some seals. "_Suiton: Kokou no Jutsu!_" An explosion came from the water tank beside the clinic, and what looked like a giant maw of water came crashing towards the missing-nin. He dodged to the side, which was a little stupid considering that such an escape from Rin's techniques before did not work. The horrendous mouth reemerged at the side of the wave of water and caught him within its fangs of water. His screams were drowned out by the crashes of the water hitting him to the ground.

She lowered her arms and gasped, since the Kokou no Jutsu took a lot of chakra out of her. Gai proceeded to jump to help Asuma and Genma since his own fight was taken care of and under Rin's control now. She surveyed the three bodies on the ground, determining with her medical training that they should not regain consciousness for some time. Then, with great anxiety, she looked to her two best friends, sorrow and fear to her depths that they would now proceed to yell at her and curse her for her lies up to this point. She couldn't bear it and started to examine the damage on Kakashi's legs instead.

"I should have told you. I've been a kunoichi this whole time. Seems ridiculous, I know, but I had to hide it from you two. I've been so afraid of how you'd take it… it's my fault that your family is dead, that I didn't even tell you about what family you might have still had in Konoha. I nearly had you two killed by throwing that kunai at the rock ninja when the town was attacked. I didn't use my healing jutsu to help you when you were hurt. I didn't teach you techniques that could've helped you when we were younger or told you about all the missions I had during my yearly trips to Konoha. All this time… I'm sorry. I just ask that you tolerate me until the end of this fight, since I dragged you in this deep. We can discuss me leaving the minka later."

She was looking down—at Kakashi's legs, the incapacitated ninja, the water-soaked ground—as she said this, in order to not meet their eyes. So she didn't see Obito approach, and didn't even really notice he was there until he took her chin to make her look up and kissed her. She didn't have time to react, for Kakashi took her chin and gently pulled her face towards him to do the same.

* * *

Oyuwari and shochu – Shochu is the _distilled_ alcohol associated with Japan (we often call it "Japanese whiskey"). Oyuwari is a method of serving it, mixing it with hot water to dilute the alcohol, bring out the aroma and flavor, and warm the body.  
Suiton: Kokou no Jutsu – Water release: Jaws of Death Technique. I completely made it up.  
Okay, this chapter was almost too late for my freshly self-made deadline. I blame Rin.


	13. Choices are Simple

Disclaimer: It's the opposite chapter.

All right, this is where everything comes to culmination and is finally explained. A few of you will think that the ending is cheap and lazy, but it's actually what was planned from the beginning. A bunch of you will probably be pissed that I pulled such a 180 on you. You'll now find out why this is labeled "Pseudo-AU", because simply being in the same universe but under different circumstances _is still AU_, but the background that this entire story is based on is not AU at all.  
Remember that weird beginning with the ninja sneaking around? If you don't, you better reread it now.  
laurelsblue: Yep, dangerous waters indeed. Thank you for all the compliments.  
Sauru Tsukiyumi Sanbi's Faeble: It seems that I'll only get one more review from you now! But it's all right; I'm just glad people are actually a bit excited about this story.  
alexf801: Precisely; people only see what they want to see! It is a shame about Asuma; he's interesting, but we hardly knew a thing about him until his end. But it happens with writing a lot, especially with Kishimoto.

_

* * *

"I am a kunoichi."_

As Kakashi looked upon his housemate's back, the back of the woman he'd fallen in love with at some point in his life, the same woman who was just as cherished by his best friend, fear had gripped his heart that she would finally say it. It was the part of him that feared she could be too close to the ninja, where death and destruction tended to reign, and because of it would flatly refuse the idea that she could be a ninja herself from so much as forming in his mind. When she faced against the ninja, he had horrid flashbacks of the rock ninja from eight years ago. He had been under the illusion that she was as weak of a girl as she pretended to be.

But now… now he was deeply grateful that she finally said it.

And now, the kunai from nowhere, the yearly visits, the heirlooms from Rin's clan, the dubious history associated with them, the strange medical books and scrolls that had diagrams that didn't _quite_ look like a circulatory system, Rin's inability to be embarrassed or daunted, the sparring and chakra control… it all made perfect sense. Here before him was a strong, female ninja. And she was _apologizing_ for it. Apologizing even while he only felt that much more in love with her because of it.

Kakashi didn't know how to verbalize this to her as she started to talk about leaving. He certainly was not going to let her just leave from the minka after the battle was over and done with! But was she even going to listen at this point? He could not think of a word to say that could reassure her at this moment, and he didn't want to wait until later to reassure her. Obito, on the other hand, had more experience with actually expressing love than Kakashi, and did the proper thing by kissing her. So Kakashi followed his example and did the same.

This time, he could feel her lips with the gesture. They were soft and tender, and he felt that he would go for another kiss, if only they weren't in the middle of a battle with Obito right at his side. He let his hand fall away from her chin and smiled at her instead as her wide, brown eyes switched between the two.

"Don't _ever_ talk like we could hate you," he said, "That's impossible."

Obito grinned. "That's right! We both love you, Rin!"

There was a slight, almost unperceivable shake in her shoulders, and her eyes glittered a little more. A muted blush even tinted her cheeks. But one blink, and it all fell away. She smiled, strong again, at them.

"We'll talk about this later. Gai-san!" She turned away to the green-clad ninja.

Tears were pouring down from his eyes like waterfalls. "What a beautiful scene to be in the middle of a battle!"

She laughed with a tint of frustration. "That's exactly the problem. You and I shall help Asuma-san and Genma-san finish up." She looked over at Kakashi and Obito. "Can I trust you two to keep an eye on these guys so they don't wake up?"

They nodded to her, neither able to keep from smiling.

Asuma had killed the ninja he was fighting, so the only ninja that needed to be taken care of was the one on Genma. This last one, a former sand ninja that wore bright, green armor that gleamed like an emerald in the sunlight, became very aware that he was in a desperate situation. Three of his comrades were out-cold at the least, and Asuma's trench knives had decapitated one. Furthermore, it was very clear that the leaf ninja were _not_ going to let him escape.

He still had some tricks up his sleeves, damnit. He wasn't going to let these weak leaf ninja bring him down as easily as they brought down the others. So his plan failed in Mizu no Kuni. He was just careless, is all. But he was more careful here, right? He set things up so that it wouldn't happen again. And so what if one of his comrades was killed? He'll be able to do enough with the help of the other three, after he took care of these pesky leaf ninja.

With a quick motion of his hands, the entire street and its buildings collapsed, white dust from the destroyed structures forced up by the rumbling now swatting everyone's vision away like the cloud from an explosion. He didn't want to do so much property damage before, surely, but there was no sense in trying to bargain for money when cornered with your life. Debris and dirt flew into everyone's eyes, and many people fell to the ground from the tremors.

Kakashi fell to one knee into the cracked pavement but kept his back straight, wiping dust from his eyes and peering through the dark clouds that now surrounded him. Obito should still be close by. Yes, there he was, angrily fisting his hands into his leaking eyes. The others had leapt away shortly before the explosion, however, and he was having difficulty discerning other people through the masses moving about in panic. Above him, some dust clouds parted and sunlight poured in, accompanied by some stark shadows. Kakashi stood and looked up by instinct.

Rin was high, high up in the air with Gai, attacking the green-armored shinobi. Gai's flying kick was dodged, and another water ninjutsu from Rin was nullified by a weird jutsu that Kakashi could only assume was earth-based. It was enough to knock Rin backwards, and she fell out of sight for Kakashi, obscured again by the clouds that surrounded him.

"Rin!" He shouted desperately, and ran forward into the dust, instantly enveloped in the cloud so that his advance was blinded. He was quickly lost; he couldn't even hear where the battle was anymore for all the sound of screeching patients and other bystanders, not to mention the strange rumblings that Kakashi supposed came from the enemy ninja's jutsu. And in his pursuit to help Rin, he'd already forgotten the charge she'd left him with in guarding the unconscious shinobi.

That is, he forgot until a sharp pain came to his right hamstring, forcing him back to his knees. Warmth flowed down the back of his leg, and he scrambled away towards his left, narrowly avoiding a second slice from a blade. The dust was now clearing enough to see silhouettes; one of the enemy ninja was forcing himself slowly up from where he'd fallen and had a long knife out to resume his fighting. Just his luck.

"Why do they always aim for my legs?" Kakashi muttered, smirking despite himself. At the moment, he was unarmed and had only some minor jutsu tricks that any academy ninja could perform, not to mention that he was literally hamstrung, but he was already up, whereas his opponent was still struggling to get off his belly. Kakashi had the advantage. He propelled himself towards the opponent on his good leg and swiped a fist down, aiming at the ninja's left temple. The ninja's head lolled to the side from the force of the impact, and his senses seemed to be further muddled as he blinked slowly and slung his head back around drunkenly, eyes dull.

Since Kakashi was closer now, he was able to see that his opponent was more than cut and bruised. Rin's jutsu slammed his body so hard that he must have had multiple fractures, if he wasn't bleeding internally as well. His cheeks were already swollen and blood dribbled from his lip. But he was conscious, against all odds, even if he wasn't totally aware of his surroundings. His eyes finally found Kakashi again, and they turned from dull to wild. He screamed a half-garbled battle cry that Kakashi assumed was an insult and lurched forward with his knife. Kakashi was able to avoid his large, lurching motion without much difficulty, but the hand on the knife was far faster and Kakashi found another swipe cutting into his side. He fell backwards, weight forced onto his cut tendon, but he caught himself and forced himself back up onto his good leg… which, come to think of it, happened to be the leg that Rin had stabbed weeks ago during a nightmare. No, this wasn't the time or place to think about that. He was in a fight.

Now the ninja was on the advance and Kakashi was stumbling. No longer having forward momentum, he chanced using his already-injured leg for a sweeping kick, and the kick connected; the ninja flipped to the side. However, the jolt shot pain through Kakashi, just enough to make him only vaguely aware of the sounds of someone approaching from behind. He was a little annoyed with himself when he felt a great, sharp weight crash down on the back of his skull and neck. This annoyance was his last thought before he plunged into darkness.

.-.-.

Kakashi opened his eyes to a very bright world of pain. His head and neck were throbbing, his side was burning, and don't even _mention_ his legs! His eyes didn't focus immediately, which worried him, but after they adjusting to that glaring light above his bed (that wasn't all that glaring, he sees now), they naturally started to un-blur everything into a detailed sharpness. Where was he? Oh great, he was in the hospital again.

A great green blur that sharpened out to be Gai was sitting on a chair nearby, reading a magazine, but he must have noticed Kakashi's eyes squinting, blinking, and his head turning around with a grimace. His wide, brilliant smile split his face. "Ah! Kakashi, my eternal rival! You've reawakened! The strength of your youth proved to be above and beyond that which the enemy brought to the battlefield! You're a fearsome man, indeed; the most worthy of being my rival!"

Kakashi brought a hand up to rub his silver hair and he grumbled something incoherent while he wished for his headache to go away. Then, suddenly he remembered everything. His eyes flew wide and he sat up in the bed—greeted with another stab of pain behind his eyes and into his temples—and he stared at Gai. He had a million questions, but what he loudly croaked out of his parched throat was, "Rin! Obito!"

Gai chuckled. "They're fine. There were no casualties on our side, just a lot of injuries from collapsing buildings. Obito took care of the ninja that snuck up on you and came out with fewer wounds than you did; only needed some bandages and icepacks. Rin-taichou's a little banged up and in bed rest, but I'm sure she'll be fine."

The man didn't like the last answer and looked back at Gai, unconvinced.

"Chakra depletion, from all the jutsu she was using. She didn't drain herself completely, so she's fine. Won't be able to move around for a while, though. The other medic-nin won't allow it. I bet she'll be in bed rest for a week. You could go see her if you want, but you'll need crutches, or you'll have to have one of us wheel you around."

Crutches it was. Kakashi hobbled down the halls, trying to keep weight off of one leg, until the pain in the other leg seemed near unbearable and he had to take a break. All right, perhaps he should have accepted being wheeled around, but Gai wasn't doing anything productive for his already massive headache with his voice, and he'd rather deal with leg pain than more head pain and embarrassment to boot. He figured Gai was the sort of guy that would carry you on his back if he thinks it'll help.

It took two more stints of hobbling on the crutches before he reached Rin's room. Obito was already there, bandaged enough to look like he had a brawl with a mummy and barely won, but at least he was able to stand on his own legs. They looked at Kakashi with smiles as Kakashi slumped over to the nearest chair and sat down, grateful to rest his legs again. He gave an involuntary sigh of relief.

Obito's grin widened. "See? I told you Kakashi's just fine! Pulled himself all the way here without any help! Cocky bastard, I bet you tore your stitches doing that."

"Now Obito," Rin said with a laugh. Kakashi stared at her genuine, sweet smile and felt himself melt a little, then laughed at himself. Rin continued, "I'm terribly proud of the two of you right now, so proud my heart is bursting. You have no idea."

"Hey, hey!" Obito frowned with a half-smirk. "You're not allowed to talk about your heart bursting while you're in a hospital bed!"

She chuckled. "You're right, Obito. Forgive me."

"How are you feeling, Rin?" Kakashi asked.

"Not going to ask about me, huh?" Obito huffed.

Kakashi looked back at Obito with a bored expression. "You seemed healthy enough, yelling almost as much as Gai does in a hospital. Ow! Leggo of my hair! I already have a thousand-pound headache and Gai was the first person to greet me when I woke up!"

Obito let go and Rin laughed some more. "I'm just tired," Rin answered after that, "Chakra depletion can be dangerous if you're not careful, but it just made me pass out. I was using too many big jutsu is all. I haven't used them in actual combat for a while."

"She's underselling herself again, Kakashi," Obito butted in, "Right after they took care of the last guy, Rin insisted on using her medical jutsu to heal as many people injured as she could, including you and me. I kept telling her not to, that I was fine and didn't need it, but she wouldn't listen! Then she fainted right in the middle of walking back into the clinic! Can you believe that?"

"That sounds like our Rin, alright," Kakashi said with a nod, "Recklessly putting herself before others and making us worry to death about her."

"You guys…" Rin said in an exacerbated tone, her smile turning nervous. "Come on, I'm sorry for worrying you."

Obito sat in the other available chair. "Y'know, the three of us have a lot to talk about." Kakashi gave a nod in agreement and Rin sighed.

"You're right, we do have a lot to talk about. Obito, Kakashi, the two of you are the dearest people to me. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. The two of you truly aren't angry at me?"

"Well… I admit I'm a little miffed that you never told us anything," Obito lead, "But I guess I can see why you never brought it up."

"I just feel a little silly for not realizing it earlier," Kakashi amended. "All this time, you knew every thing about us that we didn't even know, and we didn't know a thing about you. It doesn't make me angry thinking about it, but it does put things into perspective a little bit."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said.

"But there's still the matter of…" Obito dropped off suddenly and a thick blush formed on his cheeks. "Uh… well…"

Rin looked at him quizzically before she noticed that Kakashi's face had turned similarly red. "Oh, do you mean those kisses. Heh, there's nothing to be worried about with that!"

"That's not it!" Kakashi cut in. "We're both… err…" _Moron, just say it and get it over with! _"Both Obito and I love you, Rin. I mean, more than just love you as a friend. But as a woman." He tacked on that last phrase awkwardly, then continued, "We both want to _be_ with you, though we don't want ruin anything that we have already. I… guess that puts you in an awkward position, right?"

Rin's face, that hardly had an embarrassed blush for as long as they knew her, flared up and deepened to three-fold what Kakashi and Obito had and her eyes turned wide, which nearly made Kakashi fall over in exacerbation. Of all the things for her to be unaware of! Not _quite_ omniscient as she appeared to be, it seems!

"Is that true?" She turned to Obito.

He blinked and went redder. "Of course it's true! Heck, I actually asked you out before, so why be so surprised?"

She brought her hands up to the sides of her face in a meager attempt to hide the blush, only succeeding in making her look more embarrassed. She must not have had to hide bashfulness since she was young, because she was terrible at it. "I haven't thought about actually dating anyone in years. I've been too caught up in duties and trying to hide everything from the townspeople. I haven't really thought of you two as anything more advanced than teammates."

Both Kakashi's and Obito's head fell comically and they growled in frustration, the pitch such a perfect interval apart that it nearly seemed planned.

"I'm so sorry! But I'm not ready to lose either of you because of the other yet, anyway! If you forgive me for everything I've done, can we please continue to live with each other in the minka for now?" Her hands had moved from her face to standing out before her towards them, and her smile returned, although it was quivering with nervousness. "I just want the three of us to live together for a while. No more secrets."

Obito sighed and grinned up. "I guess that isn't too much to ask, right Kaka—Oi! Kakashi! You bastard!"

Kakashi had gotten up and hobbled over to sit at Rin's side on the bed, and he was now holding Rin's face to his as he kissed her long and tenderly.

"Oi! Kakashi! That's not fair! Suddenly kissing Rin like that!"

The silver-haired man finally pulled away from Rin and stared back at Obito. "Fair? I've only kissed her twice before. You got to date Rin for a while. Even got to second base, right?"

"Ah!" Rin's face went beet-red again. "You told him about that, Obito?!"

"Kakashi!" Obito growled and launched himself towards Kakashi, and they began to fight on top of Rin's bed before Rin herself snatched the both of them by the scruff of the neck and pulled them apart. Kakashi howled in agony. The pain in his legs might have just been over-passed _without_ Gai's boisterous tenor to help.

Rin sighed. "You two are going to get the nurses in here to yell at all three of us because of your behavior if you don't quit it."

"Sorry, Rin," they answered in unison. She released them, and they both retreated back to their seats, rubbing at their necks where Rin had grabbed.

When they looked back up at her, she was calm and serene again, but there was still some soft pink that played prettily on the top of her cheekbones. One of them might have commented on it if they had the chance. As it was, she began to speak again.

"I meant it when I said I was proud, you know. The two of you fought so well and… you know, every time you come from a dangerous mission like that without casualties often feels like nothing short of a miracle. But calling it a miracle like that makes it cheap. You guys, that the two of you came out of that… it shows your strength. I'm immeasurably proud of you both. I wish your families were alive to see it.

"And because of that… I've been thinking since the battle. And it's another thing we have to discuss. Something I'd rather discuss sooner rather than later, since it could affect what we do after we get out of here and back to the minka. Answer honestly: do the two of you want to become ninja?"

Their eyes widened in astonishment, and both of them had to run the question over again in their heads. "Us? Ninja?" Kakashi repeated.

Obito added, "Can… can we _do_ that?"

She nodded. "If you wanted, I could bring you two with me the next time I go to Konoha and you could take tests to get your hitai-ate. Then, you could take the test to become genin. You'd need another genin on your team, but I could be your jounin sensei if you want." She giggled. "Though it'd be simpler to have us all on the team and you two past the test under a different sensei, since most ninja looking to become genin are still very young; I don't think either of you could handle being teamed with a kid.

"Um, I don't want to pressure you one way or the other, though. If only one or neither of you want to do it, that's perfectly fine. If only one of you wanted to, I can figure something out; I took team-tests with exam-constructed teams before, and you guys could do something similar. And if you don't want to, or can't decide yet, that's fine; there's plenty of time before I go to Konoha again."

Both men looked at each other, and back to Rin, and they found that they both already made their decision before Rin had even finished talking. "Rin—" Kakashi began, "Both Obito and I… we have to agree on this. And we already know what we want to do. We want

.-.-.-.-.

_Huh?_

The ninja looked at the abrupt ending on the last page quizzically, surprised confusion etched into his features. It looked like the author suddenly stopped typing in the middle of the dialogue, but it seemed so clear and reviewed up to that point. What the hell? Why stop in the middle of a character talking like that? Especially when it seemed so close to the ending!

He flipped through the other papers on the desk to search for the ending, feeling rather annoyed that it seemed to have dropped off like it did. There's no way he just _left_ the story at that! There _had_ to be more! But where was it? And why wasn't it out with the rest of the papers? Maybe… hmmm… this story was reading a little bit like one of Jiraiya's novels, come to think of it. He could see the influence of style at least in it. And that strange little _ménage-a-trios_ that they were working out near the end…_Aha!_ That has to be it! _The last scene is probably a threesome and he has it locked away somewhere._

The ninja smirked when he tried the handle to the desk and it didn't give. _Heh, the desk is locked. It has to be in here!_ He chuckled to himself and pulled out his picks, joyfully beginning in unlocking the lock. Slight weight with the tension wrench, ticking the pin, and… _damnit, the lights turned on!_ The jig was up. The ninja was discovered.

Asuma sighed and re-pocketed his picks before turning to Kakashi. "I thought you were out."

"I was, but I forgot something." Kakashi leaned on the doorframe and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his own pocket. He held it up before him. "Still angry about these? Don't you buy a carton a week? What's the difference of one pack?"

"It's the principle of the matter!" Asuma growled, but he resolved to pull out a cigarette from a pack he already had on him and lighting it.

Kakashi's visible eyebrow went up, and he tilted to look around Asuma. "Hn?" Familiar words of his own stared back at him from the now messy stack of typed pages. "I see you found my story. Let me guess, you were looking for something to embarrass me with?"

He exhaled. "Sure was, and I think I hit the jackpot, too.

"So you did," Kakashi agreed matter-of-factly and put the page down.

Asuma gave a snort before he took another drag. "I see you made Genma and me into regular villains with Rin."

"I wouldn't say that."

"I would. You still bitter about us teasing you with that?"

Kakashi was silent for a bit, and then he shrugged. Asuma rolled his eyes. Typical. The fact was, since they were all teenagers, Asuma and Genma always teased Kakashi with Rin as the subject. Kakashi was normally a cool-and-aloof guy, harder to crack than a petrified coconut and it turned into a contest to try. A weakness was discovered when they saw his cold shell shatter and reduce to a searing flame of rage every time they suggested something about how Rin's bodacious behind wriggled when she walked. Or if a guy looked at her a little long. Or if a guy gave her a chocolate or even _thought_ about inviting her to a party. This overprotective behavior made it very hard for guys to approach Rin, and she didn't date for a good while because of Kakashi's attitude. Conversations about her between guys always ended with "…if it only weren't for that guard dog of hers!" But damn if it didn't make for good entertainment!

When Kakashi figured out that Asuma and Genma were mostly making the comments about her curves and lips and slight jiggle to irk him and him only, he began to retaliate by performing various tricks on them to embarrass or otherwise ruin their day. It turned into a prank war that lasted year after year after year, a competition of "I got you worse than you got me". On top of that, somehow, the weird competition Gai cooked up to impress Rin over Kakashi was concocted, with much the same basis of destroying Kakashi's demeanor. The first several matches were filled to the brim with awkwardness from a man who openly overflowed with affection towards the prize, and a man who wasn't ready to admit that he was doing more than protecting the prize from a weirdo. Hard to imagine when viewing how the relationship in Gai's and Kakashi's competition is now.

Asuma and Genma didn't use comments about Rin anymore in their pranks, out of courtesy and respect for the dead. But it made finding things to annoy Kakashi that much harder. There was no longer a big, convenient, red button to push. Genma had already given up the game.

"I'm not bitter at all," Kakashi said with a shrug. "Really, I think I'm glad for it. You guys made me grow up a little."

"Grow up, huh?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, you know, I thought when my father killed himself, I was already grown up enough. Then Obito died in the war, and I realize that I was still a boy, and I thought I became a man then. And then my sensei died, and I felt like I did when my father died all over again. Strange feeling. But I was _sure_ that I was an adult." Kakashi smiled through his mask to curl his eye upwards and chuckled. "Ah, and then_ you bastards _show up."

"Why thank you. I'm flattered that you put our simple teasing as life-shattering as everything else." Asuma replied suspiciously. Talking about personal things like his old team and his father was unusual for Kakashi; he was expecting this conversation to end in Kakashi pranking him again.

"Not life-shattering, but you guys made me realize I was still acting like an angry little kid that wouldn't share his toys he was already neglecting. Protecting Rin is one thing, but I was selfishly trying to rule every aspect of her life. I might have ruined her doing that, you know."

"Ruined _Rin_?" Asuma laughed and shook his head. "You couldn't ruin _Rin_. She was a strong kunoichi from a shinobi clan, right?"

One of Kakashi's thin fingers scratched at the dark cloth mask absent-mindedly. "That's true. But still, I was able to let her do as she wished with that. And when she was killed… I was better able to let her go. I tore myself up when everyone else died, but with Rin I was finally able to accept it and move on."

"Uh, right…" He decided that watching his ember burn was safer than watching Kakashi while he was on this topic. "So, why write this crazy thing, anyway? I mean, a 'What If' about your own life? Isn't that a little strange to write things like that?"

He laughed at hearing his story-writing strange. It was true. "It was still _hard_ to cope with her dying, so I figured, if my aunt's advice to write your feelings worked so well for my father, maybe it'd work for me." He stood straight and walked into the room towards the desk, then picked up a loose leaf. "I read over my father's journal a few times, and I started writing myself, and this story came out. I never met my aunt, and father spoke of her like she was a vengeful monster, but maybe she wasn't so bad if she could suggest something so helpful."

"Eh? Wait, so that journal in your story—"

"I copied that passage in there word for word from his journal. I only changed 'heads' to 'tails'. I think he really would have quit and left the village if it weren't for that heads. Obito, too… there really was a scandal in the Uchiha about Tamotsu and Obito's mother, but Tamotsu was able to stand up against the pressure from the rest of the Uchiha and marry her."

"So you're victims of circumstance, huh? And Rin?"

"Like you said, Rin was a strong kunoichi from a shinobi clan. There was absolutely no way she wouldn't be a ninja; her family was too old and ninjutsu-dependant. But she didn't use to live in Konoha; she lived in a small town on the fringes of Hi no Kuni. Her father hated Konoha and refused to live there, but they were still loyal to it and the Hokage, so they protected the area that they lived in for Konoha. When her father and mother died, it meant her grandmother took over Rin, and she chose to move to Konohagakure. Rin told me once that the mission could have ended in her grandmother's death just as easily. She said they likely would have left the town they lived in afterwards if it went the other way still, but _not_ to Konoha."

"I see. And I remember that the old woman died in the Kyuubi attack instead of the father as you put in the story. Fancy way to keep the three of you together for the story, but I didn't see your sensei in it. Ah, no wait. He was there, just not a big part of your lives."

Kakashi smiled again. "I wanted to include Minato-sensei as a major part, but I simply don't want to imagine Konoha trying to get along without him."

Asuma didn't like the somber mood; Kakashi was talking way too much, even if he was smiling and shrugging coolly like he always did. He forced a laugh around his cigarette. "You wrote a pretty good story! Why don't you write the ending and get it published!"

"…And have everyone read it? Funny joke."

"What? You think a story with _that sort_ of ending would reflect badly on you?"

"Hn?" Kakashi's head ticked to the side. "What is that supposed to mean? What sort of ending do you think I was going for?"

"Nevermind. You could just change the names if that's the issue."

Kakashi shrugged. "There is no name I could tack onto Gai and people believe it was anyone but him."

The next laugh Asuma gave was genuine. "That's true. But why not finish it, anyway? Where's the ending?"

"Oh, I couldn't think of an ending. I'm just stuck at the answer," Kakashi lied. Asuma didn't appear to catch the lie.

"Figure it out. I don't want to steal and photocopy a story without an ending to pass to everyone in the village. They might laugh at you, but they'll be angry at me for giving them such an unfinished product."

"That's just more incentive for me to not finish it."

"Ah, whatever." Asuma ground the flame from his cigarette into his glove and tossed the crooked butt out the window. "I'll blackmail you later. I'm suddenly feeling tired. See you later, Scarecrow."

"Till next time, Monkey," Kakashi responded with mirth, "Don't forget your cancer sticks," He tossed the pack to Asuma before he passed by through the door. "Say 'hi' to Kurenai for me." The Hokage's son sighed.

"What do you mean by that?"

Kakashi made a knowing grin, "I bet you two will have a nice boy with black hair and crimson eyes. I hope he inherits her nose, too; your honker's huge."

Asuma shook his head, trying to keep a smile but obviously a little flustered. "Well, if I get her pregnant, you'll be the first person I tell." Without another word, he continued down the stairs and out of the apartment building. Kakashi continued grinned to himself even after Asuma left, and didn't budge from that desk for the longest time. He looked down to the last page of the story that Asuma had found.

The truth: Kakashi was able to think of an ending, and he wrote it… and then another ending, followed by another. The problem was, however, that every single one of them ended with some or all of them getting killed while in duty as ninja. He stopped the process of writing these endings the moment he found himself rewriting Rin's death on paper. He didn't even realize he was describing it detail by detail until his eyes blurred with tears as the scene reappeared before him in ink on paper. He hated it. All those endings were torn out of the typewriter and thrown into the wastebasket. He didn't want to see them die again, even on paper, even if he was able to let it go now. And would Obito and Kakashi had said anything other than "We want to be ninja with you" at the end of that story? No, not if Rin was a ninja. They would try to be in her team to the end, and being ninja with her would have been the most logical decision to them, even over the lives they worked so hard to obtain.

Actually, the story hadn't meant to turn the way that it did at all, and was originally supposed to be something of a non-fiction personal memoir. The first paragraph Kakashi wrote, about the fruit-laden trees and wind chimes swaying in the breeze and the patched minka was something he'd seen in one of the last missions he shared in Rin while doing some surveillance work in a small Hi no Kuni town. He was going to write about when she stopped a moment to look at the beauty and nature around her and forced him to stop as well.

Kakashi had said then, absentmindedly, as he watched the people come back home from their jobs, that _the life of a civilian must be refreshingly simple compared to the life of a shinobi_. Rin laughed and said that she heard a civilian say the very same thing about ninja earlier that day.

As Kakashi thought back on that conversation, his story started changing. He was the civilian with the complicated life suddenly. And there was Obito, and there was Rin. They were all alive, and all together, all safe, right? But Rin was only there by living a lie in the story, and those boys chose to sacrifice that safety without thought when Rin's truth showed up. They could have followed the fictional Zenisoku out of harms way, but they wouldn't. The real Obito could have saved his own life instead of pushing Kakashi out of the way from that boulder, but he didn't. Civilians or ninja, they wouldn't leave Rin, especially after Kakashi realized how important she was to him.

That was another issue Kakashi didn't expect to pop up in his own story until it came. Obito loved Rin when they were young. Maybe if he hadn't have died, they would have had a relationship. Kakashi certainly would have supported them. But when Rin grew older, the "promise" made Kakashi overprotective to the point of possessive of her, and he found out at some point that he was admiring her qualities farther than a friend and teammate should. And her qualities are indeed worthy of being admired. He now couldn't imagine _not_ falling in love with her. Even when he tried to avoid it in the story, the signs popped up early on in the writing, and he resolved to let the fictional Kakashi fall in love with her all over again.

The paper dropped from Kakashi's gloved hand and he chuckled. An ending can wait. He doubted Asuma would be back to steal the story anytime soon; he'd been losing steam in the competition and would soon bow out as Genma did. Not like Gai, who would forever challenge Kakashi to odd contests as long as he had a voice to proclaim the power of youth. But on top of that, the new academy students were coming out soon and Asuma was going to be a jounin sensei this time around. If his students pass the test, of course. And Kakashi was marked as a jounin sensei as well, just like he had been for a while, but he doubted he was going to get a team of genin this time, either. Maybe Kakashi was too strict about his students since he'd failed every single one, but if they can't grasp a simple concept like _teamwork_, then they deserve to go back to the academy! Even if they don't want to get along, they have to learn otherwise. If only Minato-sensei was that strict to _him_.

The Hokage liked giving Kakashi special students, too. He supposed Sandaime-sama wanted them to be failed and sent back to the academy with the lesson. Wanted these brats to be broken. Speaking of, the Sandaime was starting to get that knowing grin he had when he was scheming around Kakashi lately. He must have something specially planned in his choice of new "recruits" Kakashi was going to have to send home this time. Kakashi sighed. He could already feel that he will have to go through a lot of trouble this time.

He walked over and sat in a chair and pulled out one of his _Icha Icha Paradise_ books to take his mind off of it. As he read, he chuckled a bit, just realizing his writing style was a little like Jiraiya's. Come to think of it, his books were still in writing and haven't yet ended, too.

* * *

As you see, I made the ending extra long for the last chapter, 'cause it's so important. I hope you all enjoyed the story. It has been fun! Goodbye, and see (some of) you next week!


End file.
